Familial Feuds
by MEStarr
Summary: What happens when two members of two rival Founding Families meet under unusual circumstances and an unbreakable bond begins to grow? M-Rated for language. Delena
1. Chapter 1

I wasn't entirely sure as to where the whole hatred had come from to be honest. According to my mum it was something that happened a long time ago but she wouldn't give anything else away. It was a sensitive topic to say the least; no-one ever mentioned the causes and I'd long since learnt not to ask. But the fact remains, Grayson Gilbert, my father, truly despised Giuseppe Salvatore and the feeling was undoubtedly mutual.

Somehow that hatred had filtered right the way through the family. My mum and Elizabeth Salvatore disliked one another immensely. Don't forget Zach Salvatore too, Elizabeth's younger brother who had once upon a time been married, yes _married_ to my dear aunt Jenna for an entire year. More secrecy surrounded that drama too. Hell! Even our _grand_parents hated each other…before mine passed that is. But the pair that I found clearest was the sons. My older brother Jeremy and the eldest Salvatore brother, Damon quite honestly detested one another. At school they had been the two 'kings', or equivalent, and as we all know…you can't have two kings unless you've gone through a magical wardrobe. Their fights were legendary; no other fight in little Mystic Falls had ever gone as far as setting the other up to get them arrested or pushing the other through a glass window (need I say Damon got in a lot of trouble for that).

To be perfectly honest I found the whole thing ridiculous. What could possibly so bad? The only reasons for the feud between the two I could think of was either rivalry or some sort of preconceived family hatred. The second option, although most likely, did for me seem the most doubtful though. Why? Because this 'family feud' seemed to have skipped a generation, at least on the Gilbert side of things. To be completely honest I quite liked Damon. Not that I'd ever admit that to _anyone_.

Oh! How could I forget? Stefan Salvatore. His reasoning was completely lost on me. He hated me…completely detested me. And after almost a decade I was still trying to figure out why. I didn't like him either but he took it to another level! The rumours at school and the constant jibes. Naturally I retorted with sarcastic one-liners but still it confused me. And the worst thing? For just over six months he'd been going out with my best friend Caroline Forbes. That just made things awkward. More so since he was convinced that I was trying to split them up and pull her away from him as well as trying to convince _her_ that I was a back-stabbing bitch. But seriously, we grew up together…we know each other like the backs of our hands. You cannot split up sandpit friendship.

You're probably wondering why I'm going though all this? Well tonight was the annual, or should I say monthly, display of decadence from the Founding Families. In other words it was a Founders Party for the founding families; us, the Gilberts, the Lockwood's, the Fell's…and the Salvatore's. This happened all the time, but why was this one so bad? Because _everyone_ was going. _All_ of the Gilbert's and _all_ of the Salvatore's. That never happened; usually at least Damon and Jeremy would be absent but this time they'd both been forced to go along for reasons unknown. So yes…it was going to be tense to say the least.

I'd just finished getting ready, secretly enjoying the excuse to dress up. My chosen dress was a short black skater dress with a kind of lace mesh for the sleeves. Thick black tights and some black suede ankle boot wedges, then a studded black leather jacket finished the outfit. The choice had been between a long practically backless red dress or this one…right decision I think. Jeremy shouted at me to hurry up from downstairs so I sped up, finishing my make-up and slipping in some dark blue feather earrings and a thin chain bracelet with a horizontal cross connecting. Finished.

As per usual I was the last to be ready. We got to the Lockwood's in perfect time though, not too early and not too late. Carol and the mayor, Richard Lockwood, greeted us warmly at the front door, conversing momentarily with my parents before we were allowed to continue. It was the same at every one of these events; different reasons but always the same party. I quickly left my family and found Caroline and Bonnie in one of the many rooms, of course where all the younger people had congregated. We greeted each other with high pitch squeals as always and I sat down beside Caroline on the sofa, Bonnie on her other side. "So Len, seen a Salvatore yet?"

I sighed, "No…give it a few minutes though. This is going to be awful." Since they weren't really affected by all the tension, they could happily laugh about it. Me on the other hand; if my dad even saw me _talking_ to one of them I would be in _big_ trouble. It didn't take long for the first to approach…Stefan…naturally. Bonnie got a smile, Caroline got a kiss…I got a glare through which I got the impress_ion he wa_s trying to kill me…well I don't think he'd actually go that far… One look from him and our bubbly, blonde Caroline sprung up from the sofa and dropped into the opposite one to sit next to him. Bonnie and I exchanged a quick look as it happened but said nothing. The truth was, neither of us liked them together. He had too much control over her and it just always seemed so fake! For starters I knew she liked someone else. Someone else being Tyler Lockwood, the mayor's son. Now they would be an amazing couple and I'm not just saying that because anyone would be better than Stefan in my eyes.

Conversation was tense to say the least and Bonnie and I quickly made our escape; she headed off to her boyfriend of two years and our other friend Matt who had just arrived while I made my way to find my brother. Finding anyone at these events usually involved wondering aimlessly around the many crowded rooms. However this time it wasn't so difficult; I simply followed the stream of high schooler's who were 'subtly' making their way to…somewhere. Almost on the other side of the house and completely out of hearing range I heard the familiar school-day chants of '_fight, fight, fight'_ and I wasn't remotely surprised that the pair to have stepped in the ring today was Jeremy and Damon. Absolutely typical. Letting out an exasperated sight I pushed through to the front of the crowd and shouted my older brother's name…obviously he didn't listen, instead aimed a punch to Damon's perfect jaw (shush mind), only to receive a blow to his stomach.

Men.

"Dad's gonna kill you Jeremy…" I called just loud enough for him to hear, not honestly caring that much. This happened all the time. I couldn't help but look forward to the day that Jeremy, although was stronger than most guys, would never be quite as strong as Damon. Jheeze…where the hell was my sibling loyalty? In a short moment before receiving another punch and responding by rugby tackling Damon, my dear brother shot me a grin and I rolled my eyes, "Oh of course you don't care, why would you. I really don't see where all this testosterone came from; ten years ago you were still playing with Ken dolls."

At that both of them froze, whipping around to stare at me and I bit my lip, trying not to smile as Jeremy glared at me and Damon burst out laughing, "That is a fucking lie." He ground out and I just smirked.

"Whatever. Now can you just grow up and stop fighting like you're still at school, both of you." I said with a sigh, looking over at Damon who smirked, stepping closer to me.

"And why would _I_ do anything that _you_ say?" He questioned smoothly, eyes burning quietly and a strange look growing in them.

I smiled, shrugging a little, "Well you wouldn't want me to call you pathetic now would you?"

He blinked at that, seeming pleasantly surprised at the comeback, "No I would not." He replied slowly, our eyes locked and I _couldn't_ tear mine away from those beautiful blue orbs. Was it really so bad to like him? With all his arrogance and bravado? The fact that he was a complete player, a dick and Mystic Falls' very own bad boy…did it really matter that much that I liked him?

Of course by then Jeremy had had enough and grabbed his arm to pull him back, putting himself between us, "Don't you fucking dare to-"

"-Jeremy!"

And the parents had arrived. Grayson and Giuseppe were storming through the rapidly dispersing crowd; the latter grabbed his sons arm and began dragging him away. Just before he turned the corner out of the room though, he glanced back around and I met one more of those famous smirks, a flash of blue…then nothing. I smiled a little before turning back to look at my father who was glaring at the both of us. "What the hell are you playing at Jeremy Gilbert? Are you trying to embarrass us? Your mother and I are regarded very highly in this town and here you are in the back rooms of the Mayor's own house caught in some brawl with a _Salvatore_?"

"So what? Like you haven't punched Giuseppe before-"

Dad's eyes flared at that and Jeremy sighed, knowing what was coming, "Don't you speak to me in that tone young man! I am your father, show some respect!" At that he turned his glare on me, "And you! I expected more of _you_. You just let your brother fight like that." He paused and shook his head, "A disgrace…both of you, disgraceful." And with that he spun on his newly polished shoes and left the room.

Sighing, I started towards the door, only for Jeremy to grab my arm and pull me back, fixing me with an angry stare, "What the fuck Elena?"

I raised an eyebrow, really not in the mood to fight with him now, "What?" I questioned, pulling my arm from his grip.

His eyes widened slightly and he waved a frantic arm behind him to the door, "_That!_ With

. You were fucking _flirting_ with him!"

Rolling my eyes I shook my head, "Hardly. And you know what! Why shouldn't I? This whole family feud thing is so _infuriating_! The only reason you hate the guy is because our parents have literally drilled it into your brain that you don't like that family! It's got nothing to do with me; I'm no part of it. All these years this has been going on I've played the loyal little sister but it honestly has nothing to do with me! And it's not like you ever go out of your way to defend _me_ or anything when Stefan starts rumours or the like. You just expect me to hate them-"

"Now you're just being stupid Elena. I _do_ defend you! I've always defended you. How can you say that I don't?"

I let out yet another sigh, flinging my arms up with a half-hearted shrug, "I haven't seen it."

"What-!"

I cut him off before he could carry on though, not in the mood to hear it, "Whatever Jeremy. I'll see you at home." I muttered, making my way to the door and this time not stopping when he called my name. I literally stormed through the massive crowded house, pissed off about the whole thing. It was ridiculous…pathetic even. Why would I start an argument? There was no reason really…we had that fight all the time…minus the whole 'flirting with Damon' bit. It just annoyed me so much; it wasn't like I thought that we could be best friends or anything of the sort, with Stefan or Damon; I just didn't like not having the option because of some petty rivalry between our parents and my brother.

Trying to release some of the building stress in my mind, I didn't make my way back to the party, rather heading down another corridor to a quieter room, searching for silence. I knew what I was like; after any argument, however small, I always managed to say things to people that I didn't mean and they may or may not deserve. Therefore I try and keep to myself for a while afterwards. And so, when I entered the darkened library on the other side of the house, I let out a sigh of relief. Making my way to the open window, the thin white curtains moving in the wind, I barely acknowledged the small light on in the far corner of the room or the dark figure in the chair. Not until the voice drifted over, that perfectly velvet-like voice of his, "So you survived then…"

Gasping in surprise, I spun around in search of the voice, the light catching his bright eyes and I relaxed a little, a small smile stretching the corner of my mouth as he pushed himself to his feet and slowly ambled over, "I did…neither of them are what you would call happy with me though."

He quirked an eyebrow and smirked, "And what problem would perfect Jeremy have with his loyal little sister?"

That made me laugh quietly, "Just that! According to him I have no sibling loyalty…and according to me neither does he."

"You…not loyal to him? I can't believe it."

The gentle mocking sarcasm in his voice only made me smile more but I tried to hide it. It was true; I had nowhere near as much loyalty to Jeremy as I should have. If I did I would have stormed out the room with a cold glare the second I realised he was in here too, "Well…he doesn't like the fact that I don't feel the need to be ruled by this stupid family feud thing. Yes I'm the only one out of both our families with that mindset but it might spread eventually, you never know."

He nodded, shrugging a little as he came to a stop by the window next to me, leaning against it and looking out. I moved into a similar position beside him, crossing my arms and leaning forwards a little, feeling his gaze rested on the side of my face but I refused to look, "Seems like it has already. I wouldn't say I was ruled by it either. I just don't like your brother."

I scoffed at that, not believing him in the slightest, "Yeah, sure. Like you don't hate the rest of the family because yours do." There was no way in hell that that could be true. No, he hadn't ever been the one to initiate any argument between our parents (note I don't say brothers…he definitely played a part there) but he was obviously always on the side of his parents. Not that I would know to be honest, I usually left the room as soon as I saw one coming; not bothered to be caught in the middle and hear my parents, who I'd always respected, say things that I just didn't want to even imagine them say. I didn't want that image of them, of course I did now…but I didn't want it.

"Nah I'm not that bothered by the rest of your family. Your dad's a bit irritating but the rest I can deal with. Hey, I don't even like _my_ dad so I'm not exactly loyal to them either." He told me seriously. I shrugged, nodding as I reaching my hands forward over the two storey drop and fiddled with the ring on my right hand; one of those ones that connected between two fingers, silver with a eagle placed on it, wings outstretched to cover each side of the ring. Caroline had bought it for me as a birthday present last year. "There is no way in hell that that can be comfortable." I glanced up at him to see him looking at the ring and laughed quietly.

"Its fine, you get used to it."

"I doubt that." He muttered, grabbing my hand and pulling it closer to look at it. I jumped a little at the movement, realising right then that no matter how long we'd known each other, we'd never had any sort of physical contact…ever. Was that weird? And was it weird that now there were little sparks shooting up my arm and I could feel my heart beat speed up a step? Yes…that was weird. "Nope…not comfy." He concluded, letting go of my hand after a moments pause and I quickly brought it back to the other, blushing a tiny bit and thanking to god that it was dark at the same time so he couldn't see. We were quiet for a moment before he spoke again, "And I forgot to say…sure I'm not the greatest fan of your family-"

"I got that bit." I told him with a smile.

He shot me a mock glare before carrying on, stepping a fraction closer but I noticed, "I do like you though."

Raising an eyebrow, I mirrored his position and turned to face him, leaning against the window, taking into account how this placed us close…inappropriately close in any member of my family's opinion for sure, "I'm sure." The sarcasm slipped through into my tone without me even meaning too.

He smirked at the tone and sighed, reaching one hand forward absentmindedly and running a strand of my hair between two fingers before gently pushing it behind my ear and I cursed at myself for the sparks everywhere we touched, "As in I _like_ you."

Stop…whoa…what? Rewind, backtrack, start again…_what? _I went for not believing him in the slightest and resorted to the 'lowest form of wit'…sarcasm of course, "Ah yes, like _you_, Damon Salvatore, who likes anything and everything in a skirt."

His eyes widened a little, amusement on his face but also a misleading trace of sincerity. He opened his mouth to respond but before he could get a sound out the door flew open and light streamed into the room, illuminating the both of us and I quickly stepped back without even thinking. It took a minute for me to realise that it was Stefan in the doorway, glaring daggers at me, then his elder brother who out of the corner of my eye I could see had a smirk quickly plastered to his face, "Elena," The younger Salvatore said coldly, "Caroline says your parents are looking for you. They're leaving." He paused for a minute, watching as I reached for my jacket which I'd previously jumped on the back of the sofa. Just as I was putting it on, clutch in hand and flicking my hair out of the back so I was ready to go, he let out an irritated sigh, tapping his foot and I couldn't help but roll my eyes, taking my sweet time to annoy him more, "For God's sake just piss off!" he blurted out suddenly and I paused.

"Stef-!" Damon began but I waved him off.

"No matter, I'm gonna go find Caroline," I said, heading towards the door, slowing down as I neared him, "Might do as I do best and work on 'stealing her from you'." I mocked, smirking at his angry expression and continued down the hallway, back towards the hellish party, heart still beating out of time from the most unexpected man in the world.

**The funny thing is that I don't even hate Stefan…**


	2. Chapter 2

The evening after that eventful founders party found my family and I in a booth in the Mystic Bar and Grill. Saturday night, it was busy as ever; a group of my school friends were gathered around the pool tables but lucky me I was here for a family dinner...like we didn't have enough of them already. Jeremy looked bored out of his mind across from me while our parents were deep in a philosophical discussion on the creation of the world. I mean seriously…was this some sort of joke or something? Saturday night was so not the time for this. My mother had been raised a devout Catholic, I didn't believe…hence another reason we didn't 'get on' as you might call it.

It can't have been ten minutes after Matt served us our food that the door swung open for the millionth time and none other than Damon Salvatore waltzed in, proud as ever and laughing about something or other with his closest friend Mason Lockwood. The latter was perhaps who Jeremy hated the most, second only to Damon…Damon who was looking completely magnificent in his black button up shirt, rolled up to his elbows paired with black trousers. He glanced over and caught my eye, smirking as he caught me looking and winked which I returned with an amused eye roll, returning my gaze to my family, only to meet the silently furious green eyes of my brother…oops. I shrugged a little, biting my lip as I looked away to listen to my mum explain, yet again, why God was great and everyone should love him. It wasn't like I hated the guy; I just didn't believe…there was nothing wrong with that. I was open to any and every religion…just I didn't personally believe in them.

"Oh Elena, your grandmother was wondering if you'd chosen a date for your communion…I thought this summer would be quite nice, we could have a few friends around afterwards." Oh save me now.

Jeremy was quite obviously trying not to laugh, already having gone through this and avoided it, lucky sod, "Mum…no, I've told you before, I'm not doing it."

She let out a disappointed sigh, "I honestly think it would be good for you! If you just gave it a chance-"  
"-Mum," I interrupted again, "No. You've dragged me to Church on Sundays enough times for me to know…I don't want to. I'm sorry, but no." However many times I said it I couldn't foresee her ever giving up. I did love my mum, she was great…but this had to stop soon! "I'll be back in a minute, toilet." I excused myself, standing up and heading in the direction of the toilets. Of course it was just my luck that, a couple of minutes later on walking out the door, out of sight of the rest of the grill, I walked straight into a solid wall of muscle, stumbling back and almost loosing my balance if not for the arm that slipped around my waist, steadying me…and not letting go.

Damon. Of course it would have to be Damon. There he was, gorgeous face not three inches from mine and smirking down at me like he was God's gift to us all. That moment of shock was enough to acknowledge the way my body was pressed right against his, his arm wound around my waist, pulling me much closer that was necessary and my hands were placed on his hard chest for balance…damn…

Blushing slightly, I pushed back slightly to put more space between us, "Sorry…thanks, wasn't looking where I was going." I muttered quickly, pulling the sleeves of my black thin-knit jumper over my hands. And again, damn…we would both be wearing all black again; too similar. My black skinny jeans paired with this jumper, I probably looked like I was in mourning but I always wore black to be honest…and so did he.

"Clearly." He said in an obviously mocking tone like he didn't believe me, "Family night looks like fun." He commented idly while I was too focused on his hand on the small of my back, his lowest finger just touching a patch of skin where my jumper had risen up, little sparks shooting from the contact.

Finding my tongue, I nodded and spoke, "If you like debates about religion, sure. But they get old after a while."

He winced at that and shook his head, "No thank you…last time my rents dragged me to Church I was 14 and I fell asleep. Never again."

I laughed at that, completely able to imagine it. "It's sometimes hard not to." I stepped back slightly and he almost reluctantly let me go, or maybe that was just my imagination…My mind travelled back to last night and what he'd said…put it on the alcohol; it couldn't have been true, "I should probably get back. Sorry for walking into you."

He shrugged, "Sure, no problem, have fun." He said with a final wink, brushing my arm with his hand as he passed by me back into the restaurant. I shivered slightly before shaking my head, berating myself for being so silly. As much as I hated this pathetic family feud and I wanted it to be done…I think it would be going a bit too far to actually admit to liking Dam-…no…no I don't, I don't!

I rushed back to the table, convincing myself the whole way that I _don't_. Jeremy looked suspicious but of course my parents were oblivious. This morning after we'd all woken up and gone downstairs the two of us had received yet another lecture about our poor behaviour last night. My dad would honestly do anything and everything to ensure that we never had any sort of meeting with a Salvatore. It always seemed to be more focused on me though, the youngest and the girl…typical. They couldn't do much about Jeremy, apart from telling him to stop _starting_ the fights but he was 20 wasn't he. In a couple of months he'd be going back to Princeton where he was studying architecture and he would be a hundred miles from one of the 'others'. Me? I still had two more months of school to go before I was finally free of Stefan Salvatore; then another week before summer. I could do it…could he?

As we left the Grill an hour or so later, I once again caught Damon's eye, a small smile shared between us before the door closed…I didn't understand it at all.

Bumping into Damon seemed to become a regular thing from that weekend onwards. I'd see him at the Grill while out with my family or friends, at a party, on the street, even at school! His favourite drinking buddy just so happened to by my favourite teacher, Mr. Saltzman, who taught me history and was also currently going out with my aunt Jenna. Back to my point, I saw him at least four times over the following week, and each time would be the smile and the almost awkward conversation but not quite. I didn't know what to make of it to be perfectly honest.

On Friday night I'd been at the Grill again with my friends this time, he was there again with Alaric. Needless to say Jeremy wasn't too happy when he found the two of us talking. See I'd just gone over to get a drink, not realising the two of them were there, then of course I had to say hello just to be polite, Alaric was my teacher after all…then, when I was talking to them for just two minutes…Jeremy had to arrive and…yeah he wasn't happy.

Today was the next Friday, two weeks since the Founders Party and finals were over…finally. Caroline and Bonnie were insistent that we needed a night out and so we were getting all dressed up and ready for the club. It wasn't too far from home, perhaps a 15 minute walk (though we weren't going to walk) and the best one in town, called The Grand, undoubtedly busy most nights of the week. I'd but on a simple short black bodycon dress which strap sleeves, black tights and my usual leather jacket and black suede wedges. My hair was pulled up in a high ponytail and make-up was dark, basically normal for a night out.

We got a taxi there, not wanting to drive since then we'd have to drive back. Last year Tyler Lockwood, the guy that Caroline was 'secretly' in love with and he her (Stefan obviously didn't know), had scored us some fake IDs so we were all set; the bouncer on the door didn't even check, just let us skip the queue and go straight in. That was mainly down to the fact that Caroline was a regular…I'm pretty sure they knew we weren't 21.

It was almost brain-numbingly loud inside, the heavy bass shaking the floor and the seemingly hundreds of bodies moving in time as one. Bonnie got the first round in before we somehow found ourselves in the centre of the dance floor. As most people did, we had a system. You all stay together, and then when someone comes up behind you and starts dancing with you, you look to your friends who will give you 'the signal'. Bonnie was quickly whisked off my some dark and handsome guy…not quite reaching the tall bit but a good height for her. For one night it didn't seem to matter to either of them that they both had boyfriends. Suddenly I felt hands on my waist, pulling me back against an almost hard chest and I glanced quickly at Caroline who, trying not to laugh, shook her head. Lucky me, I ducked away and made for the bar, ordering a drink and leaning against the bar as I waited for our drinks.

Not a second later I felt a strong arm slide around my waist and tensed slightly on reflex, that was until I heard the familiar mocking voice right by my ear, "And how old are you Elena Gilbert?" His warm breath brushed across my cheek and I couldn't help but smile at his words, turning to look at him but not removing his arm.

"21 of course." I lied, exaggerating slightly like I was offended which made him smile.

"Oh of course, because you're older than me." he agreed sarcastically with an eyebrow raised.

I laughed quietly, turning and taking a sip of the martini that the bartender had just set down, "Don't tell anyone." I added as he slipped into the barstool beside me. I could literally feel his eyes raking up and down my body, trying not to let the shiver or blush show, "I'm not the only one who's breaking a law. Aren't you 20?"

He nodded, shrugging, "It's a ridiculous law. You can join the army and kill someone, drive a car and possibly kill someone…yet you can't even drink a casual beer in the evenings." He ranted, verbalizing my thoughts, "Stupid…move to England, the limit's 18."

"My thought's exactly." I said with a smile, glancing over his shoulder and seeing Bonnie coming in this direction, not having seen us yet, "Bonnie's coming, I should go." I said quickly, sliding off the stool and turning to pick up my drink before noticing his confused expression, "She likes Jeremy…at least she's on his side in your petty little feud. Therefore she'll tell him and I already argue with him enough." I said lightly.

He nodded, rising from his chair, a small smile on his face, "I'll see you round then," he said quietly and I stiffened slightly as he leant down and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek, murmuring the words, "Get home safe," before disappearing into the crowd, leaving my speechless. What just happened…

My thoughts were interrupted as Bonnie reached me, squealing and jumping into the seat that Damon had just occupied, clearly already past sober, "Oh my God Elena you'll never guess who I just saw oh my god!" she literally screamed in my face.

Laughing, I sat back down, "Enlighten me Bonnie."  
"This guy…he was called Jed…oh my god…he looked like Ryan Gosling…but he had darker hair…oh. My god." She could barely string together a sentence, which only served as amusement for me. I'd just opened my mouth to say something when she suddenly screeched something along the lines of 'there he is' and off she went…


	3. Chapter 3

I didn't see Damon again that night, perhaps a quick glimpse through the crowd but I couldn't be sure. He'd probably gone home or on to another club. I shouldn't think about it though…I wasn't even allowed to talk to him according to my family…imagine what would happen if I came home and told them that I was going out with Damon Salvatore…outrage. The poor guy would probably wake up in hospital in a few days with thirty broken bones…if my brother had anything to do with it at least.

Bonnie was going home with the Ryan Gosling guy Jed who we'd talked to and seemed perfectly lovely, in fact he went to Mystic Falls High in the year above us…I remembered him slightly…friends with Jeremy I think. Anyway, at least we had connections. Apart from Caroline we weren't the type to go on one night stands with random guys at clubs…for starters that was just stupid. Even Care didn't do it that often. However it was completely typical that she, while drunk, having just left the club, would call her 'lovely' '_darling'_ Stefan to come pick her up, just before Bonnie left. So obviously I wasn't gonna get a lift there. In fact he just shot me a smirk and took off, not even bothering to ask. Just my luck really…Care had gone, Bonnie had just left and I was left in a world that was still spinning slightly from the alcohol that just hadn't tasted right nor had the right effects…I'd never felt _this_ bad before.

The only redeemable thing about this was that the club itself was only a 15 minute walk from my house so I could do that easily.

Oh how wrong I was.

I was about halfway there I'd say, not entirely sure from the spinning but I'd say it was around the halfway point. Walking in a straight line wasn't at all possible and my small bag containing my credit card and some money was swinging from my wrist, my phone in my bra just in case. I blame the alcohol for no noticing the few dark figures darting across the road towards me. I should have noticed them far before my back connected with the wall of the hand clasped tight around my neck. Inside I was screaming in panic but I was too shocked and disorientated to do or say anything for a moment. Then I realised that the first guy was yelling something at me and I focused, wondering how the hell I got into this situation…

"I said where's the money bitch!" His gruff voice shouted, stale breath washing across my face. The fact that I was been mugged only then hit me…followed by the thought that it could be a lot worse, they could be wanting to-

My thoughts were cut off by a heavy blow to my stomach and I keeled over, biting back a cry of pain, only to be dragged back up, slammed against the wall and a cool metal object pressed against my jugular…oh holy hell it really couldn't be worse. The three seemed to be laughing together, commenting on my inability to understand. "C'mon baby hand it over."

"You're mugging me?" I managed to slur, my vision slightly blurred from the mixture of pain and alcohol, its effects refusing to wear off.

He seemed to sigh heavily, motioning to the other who punched me for a second time and this time I couldn't hold the cry back as I jerked, my skin moving beneath what my murky brain assumed to be a blade, nicking the skin. It was then that my mind made the fantastic decisionof _doing something_ and a weak and badly placed knee pushed forward against the mans thigh, practically of its own accord.

Bad move. Before I even knew what was happening another sharp blow landed to my cheek and suddenly my face came into contact with the cold asphalt of the pavement. What could I possibly do in this state to prevent the blows from their heavy boots into my stomach, legs, back…anywhere. I couldn't do anything. I just tried to curl up, shielding my face with my arms and my stomach with my knees, hearing a bone of sorts crack with one particularly sharp kick and more pain erupt. I didn't even notice at first that they'd gone…the blood pumping loudly in my ears blocked out all other noise. I could feel blood on my face, on my neck…my stomach, my legs…everywhere. And more than the blood was the pain…the excruciating pain.

It took me…I don't know how long it took me to push myself into a sitting position…every time I moved new pain would spout somewhere and I'd recoil again. Stupid Elena! Why didn't you call a taxi? Called Jeremy for a lift…called _someone _for a lift? I just _had_ to walk home. I should have known better…known not to walk home drunk on my own. Who _does_ that? Idiot…fucking idiot.

Somehow I managed to push myself up and back to lean against the brick wall, stretching my blurry vision to focus on the pavement beneath me, quickly deduction that my bag was gone. I didn't care…I really didn't. Miraculously I still had my phone though, pulling it from my bra only to drop it as I found my fingers weren't yet functioning as they should. It hit me that I couldn't be more than ten minutes from my house right now…maybe I could get there, block out the pain and just keep pushing my way through. My phone lit up and my tunnel vision, only able to focus on one thing at a time, acknowledged a new BBM from Damon…how he'd gotten my pin I have no idea. Concentrating hard, I pressed to read and almost cried as I read the message. He'd offered a lift…a real, safe, quick lift…

Maybe this was punishment or something. Mum always said I'd be better off if I believed in God…no…this was not the time to convert. I was alive; I just needed to get home.

With that thought in mind I gripped my phone in my hand and jerked to my feet, stable for all of one second before stumbling against the wall; scraping my shoulder on the razor sharp bricks in the process. I winced at the wave of agony that passed through my body, refusing to give into the urge to throw up and took a minute and a few deep breaths to calm down. Bracing myself against the wall, I lifted to phone to my eyelevel, not really caring who the message went to, simply writing the word 'help' and sending…or some variation, I doubted that my typing was up to scratch. That done, I began to edge along the wall, holding on for dear life as my head spun with every step. It wouldn't work the whole way. Hell it probably wouldn't even get me to the end of the road, but I had to try,

How long had it been? How long since I'd started moving until now? Now was only defined by the single bright light that seemed to be moving closer and closer at an alarming rate. For some reason my mind chose then to transport me back to that episode of 'Shameless'…"_If you see a bright light walk towards it,_" Not what people normally say but right now it seemed like the most painless option.

"Elena?" A voice yelled from somewhere near me, somewhere beyond the light. Focusing hard I found another figure running towards me, flinching slightly before realising that there was no black balaclava here, no threat whatsoever.

His hands where on my face and his ice blue eyes darting over me before I spoke in a cracked voice, "Damon?"

"Fuck…shit what happened to you?"

I managed to lift then drop one shoulder, leaning forward slightly into him, "Mugged."

He swore under his breath, "Where does it hurt? Is anything broken?"

The questions were fired so quickly I could barely catch them, "Everywhere…don't know."

"I'm taking you to hospital."

Whoa, fuck no, "No…no hospital. Home."

The look he gave me was completely incredulous, like what the hell was I thinking! "Elena you could have internal bleeding, broken bones…whatever. You _have_ to go to hospital."

Shaking my head again, I closed my eyes for a second, "I'm fine…just hurt. Hospital means police…no energy." I'd never found it so difficult to get so few words out; I could tell my body just wanted to shut down but I knew well enough to stay awake…for now at least, "Home."

It may be stupid, not to want to go to hospital. But all I wanted was to go home; right now I still had alcohol blurring my sight and I just wanted to sleep, not go to hospital and have a load of checks only for nothing life-threateningly serious to be wrong. I'd know if something was wrong…this was just pain and I could deal with it…somehow.

He sighed heavily, "That's an awful idea-"  
"-Aren't you training to be a doctor? You do it." I remembered hearing that he had just finished his second year at med school so he should be able to help enough.

Another sigh left him and I knew the battle was won, "Fine, c'mon. I've only got my bike but if anything hurts tell me." 'If anything hurts'…like nothing is now. It didn't take long to reach the source of the bright light, unable to help much as he placed me on the front of the bike. I wasn't sure how safe this was, me being in front and him basically driving around me…but everything was too much to care about such things.

It took me about five minutes to realise that we'd been moving for five minutes at what felt like warp-speed…surely we'd passed my house by now…hang on- I swear this was…

My delayed realisation of where we were going came as the infamous Boarding House loomed out of the darkness at the end of the drive. Shit…I couldn't stay at the Boarding House! I'd only ever been in there once or perhaps two times but I knew that one, I would in no way get a warm welcome and second, my family would be _pissed_! By the time Damon had pulled up the bike and stood up beside me, I'd found my tongue, staring at him in shock. "Damon why are we here?" Thank god my brain had reconnected with my tongue so I could talk above the pain which had almost numbed by now…almost.

"Firstly I doubt your parents would appreciate me dropping you home looking the way you do… Then if you want me to help, and trust me you don't have a choice in that, then I have to be there and this is so much easier than arguing with your parents." He explained, wrapping an arm around my waist as he did so and helping me up. I did as he wanted, arguing as I did so.

"But what about your parents? They hate me too! And your brother! Damon they'll just kick me out."

He paused, looking at me with a smirk playing on the corner of his lips and warmth in his eyes, "Hence why we're being _quiet_."

Hmmph…I can take a hint.

"Fine. But I blame you." I said in a whisper before letting him guide me over to the front door. There were no lights on inside, not one sign of life throughout the vast house. On entering, there weren't even any lights on in the hallways. It was quite creepy to be honest, with nothing but the blue-hued moonlight shining through the windows and Damon's knowledge of the house to guide us through its expanse. When we reached the bottom of the stairs in the huge parlour he paused again and I glanced up at him, noticing the thoughtful frown.

Then, in a hushed tone, he turned his apologetic eyes on me, "I'm really sorry about this…" Before I had a chance to ask what he was on about, he'd scooped my legs from under me and pulled me up into a bridal position. I let out a quiet yelp, wrapping my arms around his neck in complete momentary ignorance of who he was, clenching my eyes against the sudden fountain of agony, "Sorry," he whispered, carrying me quickly up the stairs. To be honest after a minute the pain died down again and I found the position fairly comfortable…and by fairly I mean very. Of course by the time I'd just fully settled into him, we were in his room and he was setting me down on his massive bed. It took me a second to unwind my arms from his neck and he smiled slightly, concern in his eyes as he looked me over again. "I'm really sorry, but Stefan's such a light sleeper; he always hears me come home and he'd definitely hear me pulling you up the stairs and come out…"  
I almost smiled, pushing myself up against the pillows, "You make me sound decrepit."

With a shrug, he said, "Well you are." Striding off into the en suite before I could say anything…

Dick.

But then he returned a moment later with a bowl of warm water and a cloth and I just couldn't be mad. "I don't think the bleedings too bad really…but you've got a cut on your head which obviously bled a lot." He said as he resumed his position on the edge of the bed, sounding all professional and that. "And your shoulders…neck- fuck did they have a knife or something?" He asked suddenly, his gaze on the side of my neck. I nodded, reaching up to feel the small cut; about an inch long and not too deep, missing anything important. That's all that mattered isn't it? He let out a sigh, concern and frustration showing on his face, "Why didn't you call me Lena? We were just a block away, why didn't you ask for a lift? Or a taxi even! Anything! And where were your friends?"

"I didn't even know I had your number…you snuck it in there without me knowing. And I guess I don't know you well enough to beg a lift off you. Bonnie went home with some guy and Stefan picked Caroline up…then I figured it was only a fifteen minute walk…"

Again he sighed, "Well that's incredibly stupid." He muttered, lifting the damp cloth to wash the blood from my neck, slowly and gently removing the sticky substance. We fell into silence as he did so and I couldn't help but watch him, a million thoughts going through my head. This _was _weird. You couldn't deny that. Damon Salvatore helping me; my parents would have a fit and Jeremy would go bat-shit crazy. It didn't matter that he was _helping_ me…it was the fact that it was _him_. The fact that I was at the Boarding House…the fact that I was in the same house, _sleeping_ in the same house that is, as the Salvatore's. I'd have to leave early in the morning to avoid getting caught…say I slept over at Caroline's or Bonnie's. Anything was better than my parents knowing the truth.

My thoughts shifted then, moving to the confusion…_why_ was he helping me? Sure we'd established the whole 'I like you, you like me' business (sort of), but this was a lot. Picking me up, cleaning me up and giving my somewhere to sleep…that was definitely a big ask. But watching him now, I could barely feel any guilt…however much I should. I _liked_ spending time with him, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy watching him…in least perverted way I mean…that sounds wrong. You'd have to be blind to deny the fact that he _was _beautiful, almost disgustingly so. Of course he knew it but it didn't lessen the fact. It wasn't that I was enjoying the attention; not at all…but for any other reason…I would.

"Alright, that's the blood gone." His voice surprised me; I'd barely realised he'd finished. The thought made me blush slightly and I wondered if he'd caught me staring…probably. He seemed almost nervous for a second, like he didn't know how to say something…then…"You might have to take off your top…to bandage up your ribs and all; I think one of them might be broken."

His words surprised me but I refused to let myself go all shy. However much I tried to hide it, I was a self-conscious person, about everything from my friends to my appearance…everything. But then I'd been stabbed in the back so many times in school it was hard not to be. I hesitated before nodding, sitting up with a wince. He gently reached for the hem of the dress which had risen up anyway (thank god for thick tights) but I stopped him for a second with a hand on his arm, biting my lip with nerves and looking down, "Don't-…you know…don't-"

He cut me off with a smile, shaking his head, "I won't." I nodded gratefully, silently thanking him for understanding before lifting my arms and letting him lift the dress up and over my head, his eyes running over my torso with wide, almost shocked eyes. I instantly folded my arms across my stomach in embarrassment but he realised his mistake, grabbing my arms and pulling them back, looking up at me with an apologetic expression, "No, you're gorgeous…" He said quietly, "Just the bruises-"Heat rose to my cheeks at his words but I hid it again, reluctantly relaxing my arms. As he gently ran the tips of his fingers across my tainted stomach I couldn't help but tense up, shivering slightly as little sparks erupted everywhere he touched…fuck.

After a moment he reached to the end of the bed for a long thick stretch of white bandage, motioning for me to sit up straighter for him to bind it around my ribs, moving closer so he sat right beside me, facing the other way to do it. I flinched as the bone was pushed a little but tried to bite it back as well as not focusing on the fact that his face was about three inches from mine and when he spoke his warm, minty breath washed across me…again…fuck. "I've had plenty of broken ribs over the years Lena, mainly thanks to your brother. I know what I'm doing." I didn't doubt that at all. The two end of the material met on the opposite side of me so he had to reach around me to tie it, circling me with his arms and having to lean even closer. God if I wasn't injured right now…no…don't think about it…that would be going too far; stretching this whole 'dancing with the enemy' thing _too far_. But then again…we'd already stretched it quite far…no! No don't go there Elena. His hands stilled on my side as the knot was done, moving to rest one on my back and the other spread lightly across my rib cage, making holding back a whole lot harder on my part…then…"Lena-"

Fuck it.

I barely knew I'd done it before the space between us was completely gone, pulling away after a moment in shock at my own action. Did I really just kiss Damon Salvatore? He was staring at me in amazement almost, clearly wondering whether or not that just happened like I was, however he clearly wasn't nervous like I was. And I knew that because very suddenly his lips were crushed to mine and his arms wound further round to pull me closer. I smiled into the kiss, almost laughing at the massive firework eruption that seemed to be exploding in my head like it was the fourth of July or something. Suffice to say it had never been like this before with _anyone_. Pulling away when I realised I still had the need to breath, the amazement wasn't gone from either of our eyes and he smirked, "I have wanted to do that for a long time." And he wasn't the only one. He reached up one hand to brush it through my hair, pushing it back out of my face, a small smile on both our faces (I say small).

"Jeremy is going to slaughter me if he ever finds out about this." I said lightly. Of course the fact that I was just wearing my bra, underwear, tights and heels had completely slipped my mind.

"Nah I won't let him." He said with a grin, "And I don't think Steffie's gonna be too happy either?"

"Yeah he'll probably think you've lost your mind…apparently he doesn't think too highly of me."

He rolled his eyes, "Well he's just got bad taste."

I quirked an eyebrow, "Hey, he's going out with my best friend!" He laughed at that, letting go of me and standing up off the bed. I immediately missed the contact but refused to show my disappointment, rather watching him as he made his way over to his huge wooden wardrobe and opened the doors. A moment later he returned with a black button-up shirt.

"I'm afraid I don't own women's pyjamas…Steffie might but then it's past his bedtime. I can check in the morning if he has any of Blondie's clothes left-over from one of their slumber parties." I couldn't help but laugh, reaching for the shirt while rolling my eyes. If I liked Stefan I'd probably feel bad. Pushing my arms through the sleeves of the shirt, I realised how large it was and rolled them up to my elbows before turning to hang my legs off the side of the bed. Damon had disappeared into a joining room as I placed my feet on the floor and used the headboard as support to push myself to my feet, wincing at the shoots of pain. It wasn't like I felt like I was going to die; just everything ached so bad! In places, like my stomach or neck, it did feel a bit like I was being stabbed repeatedly, but it wasn't completely unbearable. Luckily I'd always had quite a high pain threshold. I managed to reach the end of the bed before Damon returned and darted over to stop me, "What are you doing! Are you crazy? You need to rest…"

I sighed, relenting and letting him push me back to sit on the edge of the high bed, "Well I was just trying. And I'll need to walk in the morning and pretend that I'm perfectly healthy so I might as well try now."  
"You'll just make it worse and harder if you don't rest now. And why do you need to do that?" he asked, clearly confused.

Wasn't it obvious? "Well I'll need to go home pretty early tomorrow. And if I turn up unable to walk and looking like I got the living shit beaten out of me then my parents will go mental. Cue police and frenzied search to find the guys who did it. Then they'll want to know where I was tonight so I'll have to lie but then Care was with your brother who won't lie for me and Bonnie was with that Jed guy. I'll _have_ to tell them I was with _you_ and so one: my parents would kill me and two: they'll accuse _you_ of beating me up."

His eyes widened at that, clearly not really having thought about that, "Well shit…but you have proof that it wasn't me; you texted me asking for help. And anyway, why the hell would I possibly want to hurt _you_? Aside from the fact that I would never hit a girl…_you_-"The fact that idea disgusted him was abundantly clear from his expression and I couldn't stop the smile teasing at the corner of my lips. I didn't expect such a reaction at all.

"I know…" I murmured, reaching across and idly fiddling with one of the buttons of his shirt, "I know, but you know what my parents are like. They hate your family just like your family hate mine. So they won't care if anything happens; if they can get you arrested and out of town then they probably would."

He sighed and nodded, with both hands stroking down the length of my hair until his hands rested on my shoulders, "All 'Romeo and Juliet' like isn't it?" he said in jest, easily making me smile.

"A little. Hopefully without all the deaths."

"But the Baz Luhrmann version."

"Naturally." I agreed, my favourite version (nothing to do with Leonardo Dicaprio…) I opened my mouth to say something else only for the words to be replaced by a yawn and I raised my hand to hide it, "Sorry…tired."

He smirked, "Not surprised. Do you want to go to sleep?" I nodded with a grateful smile, moving to stand up only for him to stop me with a confused expression, "Where are you going now?"

"To wherever I'm sleeping? A spare room or something?" I responded like it was obvious only for him to roll his eyes.

"Here. For starters, I said Stefan was a light sleeper; he'd hear if you went into a spare room and would think it was weird so he'd obviously want to know why. Then…don't be ridiculous. My bed is massive, big enough for at least three…" I scoffed and rolled my eyes as he did that 'eye thing' that he always did like he was saying 'I would know'.

"Slut." I quipped, pulling up one leg to rest on the opposite knee so I could remove my shoe, trying to ignore the pain as my stomach twisted slightly.

He stopped moving, just watching me with a raised eyebrow, "What was that Elena?" I tried not to smile at the faux-serious tone of his voice, choosing to play innocent.

"What was what?"

He scowled at me, reaching down to take off my other shoe before grasping my waist and gently pulling me to standing, "I am not a slut."

That made me laugh, "Damon you are famously a man-whore! You have a different girlfriend every week."

"Well…yeah but I'm not a slut…just…" I watched in amusement as he attempted to explain himself, arms folded, "I just get bored with those vapid, brainless blondes that seem to make up the majority of Mystic Falls quickly so move on…quickly."

Raising an eyebrow, I felt my mouth stretch into a smile, "Not all blondes are vapid and brainless. Caroline's actually very clever. And there are plenty of other girls in Mystic Falls that would go out with you."

"She's going out with my little brother! And no…I'm bad at relationships and if I was to be in one…well there's only one girl in this shithole for that."

At that I felt something shoot me and for a millisecond my smile faltered, hopefully he didn't notice…jealousy…that's probably it. I hid it as well as I could, "Lucky girl." I said with a smile.

There was a strange yet warm look in his blue eyes in a moment of quiet and with his thumb he traced the outline of my cheekbone, shaking his head a little, "Well not really; she manages to get herself in the worst situations." He said with an almost sarcastic tone, "And people say nothing bad every happens in Mystic Falls; you get yourself mugged and beaten up." That he said sadly; like he couldn't do anything about it but wanted to. Surprise ran through me and it clearly showed in my eyes from what he said next, "You didn't think I was talking about you? Who else?"

I shrugged, a little embarrassed now as he'd said it like it was so abundantly clear to everyone, "I don't know…that Andie girl?"

He actually laughed, "No way…definitely not. _You_."

"Well you can't blame me for wondering." I smirked, feeling warm fuzzy feelings fluttering in my painful stomach, "Anyway, can we go to bed now? It's four in the morning…" I said, glancing across at the clock on his bedside table.

"Oh yeah, you distracted me." I opened my mouth to fight that only for him to grin and carry on, "I'll be right back, turn the lights off if you want." And off he went. I sighed, the smile on my face refusing to budge despite the constant underlying pain. Maybe I'd gotten used to it, but as long as I stayed still, I could almost block it out. I took off my tights and slipped under the covers, turning off the light and relaxing into the insanely comfortable bed. Was it even possible for a bed to be _this_ comfortable? A moment later he re-entered the room, wearing only some black tracksuit bottoms which hung ridiculously low on his hips; his magnificent torso on full display. I couldn't help but stare a little, "I know, I know…I'm a god." He sighed, "And that's my side of the bed, but that's fine." I laughed quietly, not saying anything as he slipped in the other side, moving almost to the middle.

I didn't say anything more, instead, after about five minutes of silence, shifting across the mattress and tentatively resting my head on his shoulder. He responded by wrapping his arms around me and pulling me closer. Could I be any comfier? It didn't take me long to drift off into a deep sleep, not even one dream of darting figures in the shadows.


	4. Chapter 4

I woke up to the sound of a door clicking shut, followed by soft footsteps, the sound of something being set down on a table. I felt the bed dip beside me and at the sensation of a feather-light touch brushing a strand of hair from my face, I opened my eyes. Amid the bright morning light, spilling into the room from the open windows, my eyes immediately found Damon looking down at me and I smiled, rubbing my eyes before pushing myself up against the headboard, unable to break eye contact until he spoke a moment later.

"How are you feeling?" he asked softly.

I shrugged, taking a moment to rate the pain levels across my body, "About a 7? Bearable."

He nodded, motioning towards the side table, "I brought tea and paracetamol."

"You are an angel." I muttered, taking the two as he passed them over and quickly swallowing two pills with a mouthful of tea.

"I know." His incredible arrogance only served as amusement, "My parents have gone to Richmond for the day. They didn't know you were here. I think Stefan's still in…probably in the library being perfect or something."

With a small smirk I nodded, "Thank you…for all this. Letting me stay here and sorting me out and all…thank you."  
"Just being a good boyfriend."

My mouth fell open a little at that and I cocked an eyebrow in question, "Oh is that what you are now?"

He nodded again like it was obvious, "Yep," He said, popping the 'p' before stealing the hot mug back and taking a gulp of the drink, "Boyfriend as in you're my girlfriend. Didn't we establish that last night?"

"I guess…" I said with a teasing smile, "I suppose I could be your girlfriend…but it will be basically impossible." By his questioning expression I explained, "Families, Damon! They aren't exactly going to welcome us both with open arms. My brother will murder you and your brother will…I don't know…kill me too."  
"Or _maybe_…we'll be the two to bring the two families together?" He said with a sort of jokey hopefulness which made me smile, "I mean, imagine this, say we were to get married…each family on a different side of the aisle as usual…there would be absolutely no tension! Giuseppe would dance with your mum…my mum would dance with your dad. Your _legend_ of a brother would be my b-…my best man." I laughed at his obviously disgusted hesitation. I loved Jeremy, I did…but that would never happen, "Or Steffie could be your maid of honour…or one of the flower girls. I think he'd look good in a pale pink dress and a few flowers in his hair."

I cut him off, trying not to laugh because…well…it hurt, "Stop being a dick. I know I don't like him but you are mean to him." He shrugged, grinning that mind-blowingly gorgeous grin and I rolled my eyes, "And that sounds like the most awkward wedding ever."

"Yep…have to agree with you there." He smirked before jumping to his feet, "Breakfast time. We have all manner of fatty ingredients downstairs and I'll have you know that I am a _fantastic _cook."

"And modest too."

I sat at the kitchen counter and watched as Damon went about making pancakes with banana, bacon and drowned in maple syrup; undoubtedly one of the best breakfasts I had ever or would ever eat. He made enough for two and we sat there munching away in silence, sitting facing each other on the high stools of the narrow kitchen island, every so often exchanging a little smile. We didn't _need_ to talk.

Overnight the damage from not ten hours previous had seemingly multiplied by ten. The bruises were darker and larger, more apparent…one framing my jaw on one side and on the other my cheek bone. Then cuts that I hadn't even known where there, tracing along my hairline or my neck or my arms, my back, my legs…everywhere was marked. Admittedly I had always had the annoying tendency of marking easily, making it all the easier when we were younger to get Jeremy into trouble for hitting me because I spent too long on the Wii or something. Now, however, it only made everything more complicated. How was I meant to hide it, or at least not make it so bad, when I looked like I'd been hit by a train?

My thoughts came to a sudden halt though when a third figure appeared, frozen, in the doorway. Damon winced slightly; apparently sensing his brother's untimely arrival…this was not good. The younger brother was staring at me in absolute shock; whether for my appearance or my presence in itself I wasn't entirely sure. I swore silently, setting my knife and fork back down on the now empty plate and watched as Stefan walked slowly closer, not taking his eyes off me even when he addressed his brother who'd turned to look at him too. "What is this?" He asked, quiet and cold.

Of course Damon couldn't give a serious answer, "Breakfast…what does it look like?"

Talk about withering looks, "What's going on? Why is she here and why does she look like that? What did you do Damon?"

Que? "I'm sorry?" He almost seemed as surprised as I was, "It wasn't me-!"

I chose that moment to cut in, "I got mugged…Damon was near…I'm going in a minute, don't panic. You can forget this ever happened." I said with a somewhat sarcastic voice, knowing just how much he would _hate _having me in _his_ house.

What flashed through his eyes at that completely baffled me…something in the space between guilt and…jealousy? "Oh…are you okay?" Whoa…

"Yes…" I said slowly, trying to understand his reaction.

He nodded…hovering a moment like he was embarrassed before darting off with another nod. We both looked at the spot he'd disappeared from before glancing at one another in confused amusement before… "My brother is strange."

Laughing, I nodded and stood up, moving to pick up my cleared plate but before I could he'd whipped it out from beneath my hands, shaking his head at me, "No no, sit…do nothing." Well…he really didn't give me much choice. And who was I to pass up on an opportunity to be lazy? Even though I did feel bad that he was doing so much for me…

In the end we didn't leave the Boarding House until almost two in the afternoon and I realised I'd received quite a few text messages and frantic voicemails from my family, Caroline and Bonnie. Not so good…we'd spent one hilarious idea with him attempting to cover the worst of the bruises with makeup…needless to say he would never be a makeup artist; at least it didn't look quite so bad now. The drive to my house was about ten minutes long and as we drove the nerves mounted. My dad…in fact all my family…were going to flip a lid. Oh…my…god…they are going to go crazy. I'd texted Caroline to tell her that _I had stayed at hers last night…_ I had…definitely…we all knew that… she'd responded with an 'oh yeah' and a wink face…clearly thinking I'd done a Bonnie.

I told Damon to park around the corner from my house. No doubt my parents would be glancing out of the window every time they heard a car pass so it was the safest thing to do. I couldn't have them finding out just yet that I'd stayed with Damon…they would not take that well. So instead I left him with a quick kiss and made my way along the sidewalk. There was no shifting of the front curtains or flinging open of the door as soon as I set one foot on the porch. No…instead I had to reach up into the hanging flower pot (painfully) and dig around for the spare key which was so _imaginatively_ hidden. With one deep breath, I turned the key in the lock and pushed the door open, mentally preparing myself for the onslaught. I can hear it already…_'Where have. You. Been?!_' All Mrs Weasley like. But no, instead there was nothing…

As no-one leapt out at me, I tentatively made my way towards the kitchen door, freezing in the doorway as I finally found them. My mother was pacing across the kitchen with the phone in her hand, pausing mid-step and spinning around to face me. My father sat at the head of the dining table, his usual place; a mug of coffee before him and a stern look on his face. Then there was Jeremy, leaning against the open French doors that led onto the back patio, looking pretty relaxed to be honest. I suppose he's done this so many times…they just panic when I'm out late because I'm the youngest or whatever. But then…he's never disappeared like I did…

"WHERE HAVE- Holy…" Miranda started in a screech before faltering. They all seemed to notice at the same time; Jeremy pushed away from the door and stepped closer, a look of furious horror taking up his features, similar on my dad's face as he jerked to his feet.

"What happened?" He demanded, crossing the floor and lifting my face to look at each cut and bruise. My mum followed suit, placing a hand on my shoulder, fear in her eyes. They were all talking it seemed, "Elena what happened to you? Who did this?"

"Darling what happened! Oh my god! I was so worried! I knew I had a reason to be worried-"

I sighed, pushing gently away, "I'm fine. Just a little banged up is all." I said, for some reason looking at my brother who was remaining silent in this. I could see the fire burning in his eyes.

"Sit down, tell us everything." Dad ordered, guiding me towards the table and forcing me to sit in one of the chairs. I sighed again and did as he asked, watching as they all sat down around me.

"Do you need anything? Painkillers? Water? What hurts?" Mum rounded off frantically, fluttering her hands like she didn't know what to do with them.

"No…seriously, it's not as bad as it looks." Grayson opened his mouth to undoubtedly tell me to relate the story to them so I went ahead before he could speak, "It's my own fault really, I should have just got a taxi home." Yep…I was telling them the truth…or the edited truth at least, "We went to a club…Bonnie left with an old friend," (hmm), "Stefan picked Caroline up. Now don't blame him; even if he'd offered a lift I probably would have turned it down…obviously we aren't the best of friends. Anyway, remember that I had been drinking a little, my mind wasn't completely clear," Mums eyes widened slightly and I shrugged, "I'm telling you what happened; call me stupid afterwards. I figured since it was only a ten minute walk from the club I could walk home. Of course I didn't factor in the fact that I was a little past sober (understatement) and it was night time…basically the long and short of it is that I got mugged."

Now they didn't say anything for a moment…I could _feel_ the concern and the worry but that wasn't the emotion that my father chose to express, "That was a very stupid decision of you Elena." Sigh…of course.

"Yes, I got that."

"We need to call the sheriff. Liz can help catch them!" Mum cut in, trying to be sensible.

I shrugged, pushing my hair back out of my face, "Fine, whatever."

My own foolish move…by moving my hair I'd drawn attention to my wrist which was one of the places that Damon had so carefully bandaged up to cover the cut there, similarly to my neck. Mum gently grabbed the arm, making me wince slightly but not so much because of the pain, "Wait…did you go to the hospital?"

"No…-"

Dad cut me off, "-That's bandaged very well…" he faded off before he looked up at my face, curiosity on his face, "Where _have_ you been Elena? It's halfway through the afternoon already…where've you been all morning and last night?" Ahh…problem.

"I called Caroline. She came back and picked me up. I guess it was after Stefan dropped her home." The poor lie somehow convinced my parents…but not my brother. He saw right through it; eyes narrowing slightly. He was always like that; seeing through my lies and figuring them out later. So now was my time to leave…"I'm tired though…I'm gonna go and have a shower but if we must we can talk about this later."

Twenty minutes later I re-entered my room, hair wrapped up in a towel and my underwear on under a short dressing gown, courtesy of Caroline. Of course it was black silk with a Chinese dragon on the back. Making my way over to my dressing table, I jumped as the door sprang open and my brother entered the room, slamming it quietly behind him, "Jeremy what the hell? Can't you knock-!"

"-Where were you?" he interrupted shortly.

Now this is what I was dreading. I sighed and turned back to the dresser, "At Caroline's, like I said."

"No you weren't. I know Caroline and I know for a fact that she would be useless at tying a bandage like that. And she would have called either me or Bonnie the second she found you like that." Damn he was right…I should have said I'd called Bonnie but then she was with what's-his-face. Caroline would have panicked and called everyone for any help possible, "So I'll ask again…where were you?"

I hesitated for a moment, not entirely sure what to say, then…"Safe…I was safe. That's all that matters isn't it?"

"No, I want to know where you were! Not Caroline, not Bonnie…what? Some random guy? Where were you?"

"For fucks sake, you're not dad, get over yourself. It's none of your business where I was! I don't ask you where you were every time you come home after a night out. You've gone off of weeks before. You come back with black eyes but you don't get this sort of reaction; I don't barge into your room and ask where you were! But then again with you it's always obvious that you just started _another_ unnecessary fight with Damon!"

He paused at that, eyes narrowing slightly as he mulled over my words, "Okay…one…I don't get that reaction cos I'm the oldest-" I scoffed at that, rolling my eyes but he carried on, "and I'm a guy. You're the youngest and a girl so obviously we're gonna be like this. And two…first name basis?" I frowned in confusion at that, still annoyed but trying to ignore that his argument was purely down to age and gender…as always, "Now that's what I want to know…what's going on with you and Salvatore?"

What?... shit… cover! "What are you on about?"

"I'm talking about all the little looks and accidently 'bumping into each other'…-"

"Are you keeping tabs on me or something? I've told you before and I'll tell you again, _I don't care about your feud thing with them!_ I apologize that I actually get on with him…you can't tell me who I can and can't be friends with!"

Silence.

Damn…I said too much…I watched with bated breath as a million emotions flickered across his face, "You're _friends_ with him?"

I didn't say anything, just opened my mouth to try to say no but then realised I couldn't…because we _were_ friends…and if what he'd said this morning was real…a bit more than friends it seemed. A moments silence combined with my expression seemed to conclude it for Jeremy and he shook his head, giving me one of those god awful disappointed looks before turning slowly and making his way out of my room, "Jer-" But he cut me off with closing the door behind him; I would have preferred it if he'd slammed it.

**Like the Harry Potter reference? **

**Not entirely pleased with this chapter but let's see what you thought **


	5. Chapter 5

**Familial Feuds Chapter Five**

To say things around the house were tense over the following couple of days would be an understatement of magnificent proportions. What with Jeremy giving me the silent treatment and my parents badgering me for more details and 'if I remembered anything new' like I had amnesia. Liz visited a couple of times to get a statement and updating us. What made it all worse was that they would hardly let me leave the house without asking where I was going, who was I going with, how was I getting there, how was I getting back…you get the picture. It was not appreciated on any level. Sure I had shit bad luck but that was more my fault than anything and it wasn't one that I would be making again…trust me.

Caroline and Bonnie came over on Sunday, a few days after the event, full of apologies and sympathy. I'd already filled them in on the story but Caroline was not excellent when it came to withholding information like this. She tended to panic and spill everything and both her mum and mine knew that. Either way, we managed to persuade my parents to let me go to the Grill for a bit in the evening with them as long as I didn't drink anything and got picked up. The limited freedom was beautiful. Dressed in my black skinny jeans and a loose, sheer black shirt tucked in, block heeled boots and my leather jacket with the studs on top, we got in my car and made our way to the Mystic Bar and Grill. As with most evenings on the weekends, it was packed with school kids and adults alike but we managed to get a booth. Tyler Lockwood, Matt Donovan and a few more of our school friends were collected around the pool table and we waved across the restaurant, sure to join them later. Firstly though, we'd sit down and do our usual; pizza and drinks. Cranberry Juice and a Texas Barbecue Mex…only the best. The most annoying thing at the moment was the constant pitying looks I'd always catch them sending me, Caroline was the worst. And the voice that went with it as well; when I was explaining to them what _actually_ happened that night it was all '_oh my god_'s and the like. Bonnie was a little better. Both of them were completely shocked about the fact that it was Damon that helped me but they were absolutely sworn to secrecy. Caroline said if she told anyone she'd give me her favourite shoes…which were Louboutins…literally her most prized possession. She was a fashion person. I didn't tell them about the kiss though…I wasn't sure why not, I just didn't think I could.

By nine we'd moved over to the pool table, having to explain my rough appearance to the others who were a little like our brothers at times…well…not Care and Tyler…but you get what I mean; we all grew up as a group and we're close. It was nice to just relax with all of them for a while. Of course it was typical that when I next glanced over at the bar at sometime around 10 o'clock I met two warm ice blue pools watching me. I paused and shot him a smile, taking note that he was sitting beside Mason Lockwood and another guy I'd never met before but vaguely recognized. Glancing at the others who were all laughing as Caroline went to take a shot…she wasn't the best at pool, I set my glass down and slipped into the surprisingly busy crowd; I don't think any of them noticed. He didn't look away as I made my way over, a smirk on his face as I squeezed between oblivious people then finally coming to a stop on the stool next to him. "Hi."

"Hey there." he responded, "How ya doing?"

I shrugged, smiling a little, "Great, got let out of the house. You?"

"Better now," Now I had to roll my eyes at the way he said that and he laughed, "Hey, I was worried! That's allowed."

"S'pose so," I agreed with a smile, turning slightly on the stool to lean back against the bar, "Thank you again…for helping me and all. Not sure what I would have done if you hadn't picked me up…"

He stopped me with a gentle hand covering my own, squeezing slightly, "Don't think about it. And there's no need to thank me either." I nodded silently, forcing a small smile and without a word turned my hand around to wind my fingers through his, seeing him smile out of the corner of my eye.

For a moment neither of us said a thing, just sat in comfortable silence, them the sound of my friends cheering as Tyler won against Caroline brought me back down to earth, "I should go…don't want anyone to find out about us now do we."

He sighed and nodded, a smirk pulling up the corners of his lips, "No we don't. Have fun with your…friends…" he said with a mocking look towards Matt and Tyler to which I elbowed him in the ribs lightly.

"Don't be a dick; they're like my best friends."

"I'm not saying anything!" He objected with mock innocence and I shot him a scowl.

Glancing over to the door as I saw it open, I swore as I saw my brother enter, "Shit, I'll text you or something later, Jeremy's here." He nodded in understanding, pressing a quick kiss to my knuckles and I smiled before darting away from him and back to my friends. Thank god he hadn't seen me yet. Popping up beside a disgruntled looking Caroline, I acted like I'd been there the whole time as Jeremy saw us and began heading over.

When she noticed I was there she rounded on me, "Where have you been! Tyler totally cheated and beat me and you weren't here! You are a bad friend Elena Gilbert." I couldn't help but laugh at her antics…she always was ridiculously competitive.

"Aww I'm sorry Care, there was a queue in the toilet." I said, laughing a little and waving at Jeremy as he approached. "Alright I'll see you all tomorrow or something…rides here."

Clearly Jeremy hadn't forgiven me yet since he hardly said a word as I said goodbye. But then, just as we were almost reaching the main door, he spotted Damon, "Huh…Salvatore's here." I glanced over to see him watching us and sighed.

"Oh yeah…I hadn't noticed."

The next time I ran into Damon was the next week at a Founders Event at the Fell's house…an oversized summer barbecue…with 200 of their 'closest friends' type of thing. Informal but ridiculously formal…that was Mystic Falls for you. What made it all the more awkward was that Mrs Fell's nephew was visiting, who just so happened to be my age, and both my mother, Mrs Fell and 'Sebastian Fell' decided that 'we would just make the most _darling_ couple'. Oh lord it pained me. I mean…he wasn't all together awful looking…but he was sleazy and slimy and that typical jock type…perfect around the parents but a total perv elsewhere. Neither me nor Damon apparently appreciated when his hand 'accidentally' collided with my butt…not…cool.

When I was at the dessert table, browsing to see what looked the most appetising, I felt a warm body right behind me and my breath caught in my throat at the sensation of breathing by my ear, relaxing when I heard that velvet smooth voice, "If I have to watch that kid touch you one more time I might have to do something."

I smirked, cutting myself a slice of the summer-fruit pudding as I spoke, "You and me both. But mother dearest thinks we're just _perfect_ for each other." I said bitterly, feeling the annoyance radiating off him, "However I know who's perfect for me and he happens to be standing right behind me…inappropriately close some might say." I mused, smiling as I felt his hand on my hip.

"Well no-one's around."

I sighed, looking around; sure enough there weren't many people around but someone could walk in at any moment. My tone turned serious, "Careful Damon…I know you don't care about pissing off your parents but I do…I really do."

He frowned a little at that, using my elbow to turn me slowly round to face him, "Hey…I care…if you care then so do I. I don't want you to get hurt by any of this…"

How could my family dislike him so much? When he was like this I just couldn't think of a single reason why anyone could possibly not like him. With another sigh I reached up and gently caressed his cheek, "I know…it's just…hard. I'm scared of being found out…they're probably disown me or something."

Quietly he shushed me, shaking his head, "We won't be found out…I promise. It'll all be fine." I nodded and smiled a little as he pressed a quick kiss to my lips before saying goodbye and darting off. That's how it would be…that's how it had to be. I could dream of a time when we could just be together and be happy, but the likelihood of that actually happening was second to none. That's just something we would have to accept.


	6. Chapter 6

There was someone following me…I knew that for sure. You can always tell when someone's watching you…just from that feeling you get. Everyone's felt it before; sometimes you don't realise that's what it is but you'll know it.

I was in the supermarket…the oversized American supermarket with the whole wall dedicated to Nutella or Oreos or Peanut Butter…we have our priorities sorted. Those just so happened to be my favourite aisles. Mum had invited some family over for dinner (which meant I was missing one of Tyler Lockwood's woods parties…not that they'd let me go anyway but still) and had sent me out to buy the food…I seized any opportunity to leave the house at the moment. Three weeks on and they were still being ridiculously over-protective. You want to know what was sitting at the bottom of my bag? A gun…a fucking gun. And pepper spray. They refused to let me go anywhere without it. I mean…I understand where they were coming from…but they were taking it a bit far.

As the feeling grew though, I started to think that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. Glancing around the empty aisles once again, I picked up the pace a little to get to the main centre aisle that ran through the whole shop. These places were way too big. The cashiers were right on the other side of this _warehouse_ of a shop and there were practically any people around since it was a Tuesday morning. Yes…I should be at school; but I was taking a sick day. Sure they made sure I was armed just in case someone attacked me but it didn't matter that I had such a raging headache it hurt to stand? No…no I could still drive to the supermarket and buy their food. My parents were odd people.

I'd just passed the end of the aisle when someone jumped out and grabbed me from behind, letting out a scream that was quickly muffled by a hand and struggling before I felt the person laughing.

Damon _fucking_ Salvatore.

He released my mouth and I took a minute to regain control of my heart before saying very calmly, "I am going to fucking murder you."

He looked like he could hardly contain his laughter as I whirled around and whacked his arm, pummelling his chest until he grabbed my hands to stop me, "I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it."

"You asshole! I thought you were gonna kill me or abduct me or something!" I shouted, not amused though he apparently was.

"Aww come on its Mystic Falls." He chuckled, reaching out to smooth down my hair but I ducked away and slapped his hand, trying my best to stay mad.

"Yes! Mystic Falls where I just got attacked three weeks ago! Bad things _do_ happen here!"

He grinned and leaned down to press a kiss to my cheek. Stay mad, stay mad! "Not when I'm around." He assured me, "Why aren't you at school?"

We began walking down the aisle again, him falling into step beside me. I leant my elbows on the trolley and glanced at the list, looking for chilli sardines, "Sick day."

At that he frowned, looking me over, "You're sick? Why the hell are you shopping? You should be in bed or something!"

"That's what I said but my parents don't agree. We have family round tonight so someone has to buy the food and they're all busy. I was just lounging around in bed so of course I could do it." I was cut off by his hand moving to my forehead, sighing, "I haven't got a temperature…just a splitting headache."

"Well you should still be in bed." He muttered, clearly not happy about the situation.

"Oh well, I'm here now. Why are you here?" I asked, spotting the sardines and crossing the floor to grab three tins. I have no idea what we'd be eating but I had no doubt in my mind that I'd enjoy it; my mother was an exceptional cook.

He shrugged, "I was passing, saw your car and thought I'd come find you."

I paused at that, smiling as I looked up at him, "Really?" He nodded and smirked, playing with the end of my ponytail absent-mindedly, "Well that was nice of you. What if I'd been with my parents or brother?"

"Then it would have been a coincidence! Besides, we're getting low on beer at home."

With a big smile on both our faces, we made our way around the aisles, picking up things as we went and talking all the way. I wished it was always this easy. Eventually I found myself standing on the small kiddie platform above the wheels and being pushed around all too fast by Damon, just like Jeremy used to do when I was little. Neither of us could stop laughing, even when one of the few shop assistants hunted us down and told us off for acting like 'immature children'. Caged against the trolley by his arms, I turned once she'd stalked off, facing him with a grin on my face. He laughed quietly before leaning down and pressing his lips to mine and my arms slid up to his shoulders. After a few minutes we broke away, "We should do this more often."

"Definitely. Every week." He agreed, "Though I think my parents might suspect something if I offer to do the shopping every week…"

"Mine too…Oh well…they can just think we've had personality transplants."

"Good plan."

The family dinner was, as per usual, an uncomfortable affair…for Jeremy and me at least. For starters Uncle John was there and I truly despised that man. He acted like he was are second father or something; always going on at us about life and what we should be doing or the like. Then there was the fact that dad hated Aunt Jenna (who we both adored). She was quite a lot younger than our mum, only 28 so not that much older than Jeremy; she wasn't immature as such but she sure knew how to have fun. Neither John nor my dad were too happy with her 'encouraging' us drinking alcohol since we'd once had a tad too much with her last New Year's. We were both adults…we could do whatever we wanted.

Thirdly our grandparents on our mum's side were there. Don't get me wrong I loved them both, Grandpa George especially, he was hilarious, but I swear after half an hour of 'Granny' (yes that's what she insisted on us calling her) going on about my appearance and my attitude…I was close to murdering someone. She'd only ever be happy once I was in floor length dresses with long sleeves and as little skin as possible on show. I tell you the woman was stuck in the middle ages.

By the time dessert was served the tension was literally suffocating me. How could no-one else but Jeremy be aware of it? They all conversed happily…_how! _Afterwards the women remained in the kitchen while the men (or lads as Jeremy joked) moved to the living room. This was such an old fashioned house.

I was halfway to my escape before a shrill voice rang out from behind me, "Oh, Elena dear," Shoot me.

Turning with a forced smile on my face, "Yes Granny?" Eugh, it sounded so fake.

"Don't you want to help clear up?"

I love my family…they're such lovely, kind, not annoying people. I promise you…I could spend just _hours_ with them and _never_ get at all annoyed. Because I _love them_…

Deep breath…

Nearly midnight and I'd only just been released from her evil clutches. First it had been more on my clothes, then on my non-existent religion, my friends even which of course led onto boyfriends. It was a long night to say the least. Why they were all so set on me and Sebastian Fell was beyond me. Jeremy shot me sympathetic looks occasionally and I had to refrain from giving an 'unladylike' gesture in return…such as my middle finger. She would have had a heart attack I swear.

The relief when I got to my room later on was astounding. I'd just changed into my pyjamas when my phone erupted into sound on my dressing table. I jumped and grabbed it before evil granny could come and investigate. I could just imagine; 'polite ladies do not accept calls at such an ungodly hour! Nor do they associate with people who do!' It killed me.

I didn't look at the name on the screen, in too much of a rush to stop the sound, so the voice that sounded did shock me a little, "Hey gorgeous."

I melted a little, "Hey yourself handsome."

"Go to your window."

Frowning a little in confusion, I did as he asked, looking out into the dark night, "What am I looking for?"

"Down by the tree."

There was a massive oak that stood just outside my window, a strategically placed branch hanging just a metre or so from the edge of the roof, a significant drop between. It sure was useful when sneaking out at night…which I had done too many times. Looking down, it didn't take long to spot the figure just in the shadows, a phone to his ear. My eyes widened and I pulled the window open, "Damon what are you doing here!?"

"Encouraging my girlfriend to sneak out. Fulfilling my role as the bad boyfriend."

I couldn't help but laugh, "If we get caught I'll murder you."

"I'm sure you will. Can you climb down?"

"Yeah, give me a minute." I hung up and ran across my room to pull on some old black plimsolls. My pyjamas were only a thin baggy white T-shirt and some dark blue short shorts over my underwear but I didn't have the time or energy to change, too eager to go meet him. Whipping my hair up into a high messy bun, I locked both my doors as I always did when going to sleep (habit I guess), slipped my phone into my bra and headed for the window. I hadn't done this for so long but it came back to me almost instantly. Bringing the window to behind me, I stepped to the edge of the roof, hearing Damon quietly tell me to be careful. Reaching out I grabbed hold of the branch, around the same level as the roof, and once my grip was secure, pushed myself off the roof so I swung for a moment.

"Elena! Please be careful!" he whisper-shouted, stepping closer. I glanced down at him and smiled at the panicked look on his face. He had absolutely no faith in me.

"Chill, I've done this a million times."

"That does not make me feel remotely better."

I laughed a little, moving along the branch like monkey bars till I could set my feet on the one below, holding onto the trunk to keep my balance. Finally I reached the last one, about two and a half to three metres high, I swung for a minute before letting go and dropping to the ground. It would have been great if I hadn't landed on a root and fallen into the tree. He was by my side in a second and I couldn't stop giggling, "You have no faith in me."  
"You're not a monkey! You could kill yourself doing that. Are you okay?"

I nodded, pushing myself straight, "Your fault, you made me sneak out." I teased, winding my arm around his waist, then realised where we were, "Ooh crap, let's get away from the house." If evil granny was to look out of their window right now they'd be able to see us…I couldn't think of anything worse happening. He nodded and we started running away, laughing quietly at the ridiculousness and cliché of it. His car was parked around the corner from the house and we both jumped in, he was pulling away from the curb before I'd even shut the door.

"So where are we going at this ridiculous hour?"

"I want to show you something." I raised an eyebrow in question but he just gave a secretive smirk…damn him. "Hey are you feeling okay…you were sick."

"Much better."

The streets were completely deserted as we sped through the town. Eventually the houses fell away to give room for thick forests and the comforting row of street lights came to an end, the road out of town stretching out ahead of us. I glanced at him, both excited and slightly nervous at the same time.

"Damon where are we going?" I asked again. Don't get me wrong I trusted him completely…but it was half midnight and we were heading out of town and I really couldn't be found out.

He glanced over, smiling and squeezing my hand over the centre console, "Relax, it's just a ten minute drive."

My nerves only mounted again when we turned off into a forest road, seemingly unused, "Fuck Damon this is creepy." I muttered, looking out the window at the trees all around us save ahead and behind and being unable to see anything.

He had a slight frown on his face, "Hey…don't worry, there's a place just up here I used to come with my mum when I was a kid, you'll love it."

I smiled a little, angling my body to face him, "You know if I didn't know you better I might suspect you were a psycho and you were going to kill me out here." He laughed, rolling his eyes. I put on a mock serious face, as convincing as I could, "Damon please don't be a psycho and murder me out here."

Apparently I was convincing because the car jerked to a halt and he looked at me incredulously, "Are you joking?" I refused to let my smile slip through, "Elena! I would never-"  
I couldn't do it, the grin forced its way onto my face and I leant across to press a kiss to his lips, "I'm only joking, I know you're not a psycho murdering lunatic. If I thought that I would have jumped out the car by now and started running."

He scowled at me and re-started the car again, "Well you wouldn't get far in these woods."

"That's what I imagine the murderer would say."


	7. Chapter 7

It was beautiful…truly breath-taking. Deep in the forest a massive clearing opened up, near the bottom of a tall cliff. You could hear the waterfall from miles away but seeing it was completely different; it looked like it was just out of one of those Herbal Essences shampoo adverts. A thousand tonnes of water coming crashing down on the pool below, completely still otherwise. Towards the edges lilies filled the water making it look strangely surreal.

I couldn't withhold the gasp, looking at Damon in amazement then back at the awesome scene before me, "Wow…this is amazing." I breathed, not even minding the creepy drive or ten minute walk through the pitch black woods to get here. "If you are a psycho murderer you can kill me here because this is a nice place to go." I commented and he growled quietly, grabbing me around the waist and nuzzling his face into the crook of my neck, making me laugh.

"I'm not a psycho murderer, for the last time."

"Alright, alright."

Silently we made our way to the water's edge. I glanced over at him before kicking off my shoes, "What are you doing?" he questioned, watching as my hands went to the waist of my shorts and I smirked at him.

"Swimming." He watched in amazement and shock as I stripped down to my underwear and dived straight in. I sure hadn't expected it to be so deep or so cold but the shock was a good one. I'd always loved swimming, especially in rivers or the sea. Jeremy always used to call me Salmon because I did it so much. Why he chose that particular fish I couldn't be sure since I didn't swim my skin off against the tide but who knows. Coming to a stop in the middle of the water, I turned back to look at him expectantly, "You gonna join me?"

It only took him a moment more to rip off his shirt, kick of his trousers and jump in after me in his boxers. I couldn't help but laugh as he swam over in front crawl, making as much noise as he could but still he was very fast. Not half a minute later he came to a stop in front of me, moving so close that our bodies were almost completely touching and I felt a shiver run down my spine, whether from the contact or the cold I wouldn't know. He didn't say anything, just reached up to push away a stray strand of my soaking hair that had escaped from the bun. I could hardly look away from his crystal blue eyes.

I felt his hand move around to rest on the small of my back, shooting warmth through me, "Damon…" I began but he cut me off with a kiss to the corner of my mouth, then another on my cheek, my jaw, my neck…moving down. I laughed quietly, one hand rising to his shoulder while the other knotted in his hair, "Damon what are you doing..."

"Kissing you." He murmured against my skin like it was obvious.

Since we were in the middle of the lake and it was pretty deep, he was all that was keeping me afloat by gripping my body to his, our legs entwined. As his other hand travelled higher along my side, touching the material of my bra, I spoke quietly, "Are we really doing this here?"

He pulled back a fraction, a grin on his face as he challenged me, "Think of somewhere better."  
"Impossible." I muttered, crashing my lips against his and holding on tight as we both went under.

We were lying on the bank of the lake side by side, staring up at the growing dawn. My head was rested on his chest and his arm was wrapped around my waist, a satisfied smile on both our faces. I let out a sigh and stretched my arm out across his perfectly toned torso, "I can't believe we just did that."

He laughed quietly, kissing the top of my head, "I can." He was quiet for a minute before speaking again, "Are you okay?"

"I'm perfect."

"That you are." I rolled my eyes and poked his ribs which only made him laugh.

I was about to speak again when a loud ringing sounded from a few metres away and I swore, "Shit, my phone." I lurched up and ran over to where our clothes had been left, finding my phone and letting out a sigh of relief when I saw Caroline's name flashing across the screen rather than any member of my family's. But then worry hit me…why would she be calling at four in the morning?

Putting the phone to my ear I spoke, "Care?"

I heard a sniffing at the other end of the line and my worry shot up, "Lennie…"

"Care what's wrong?" I looked over to see Damon standing up, a frown on his face somewhere between concern and confusion.

"Lennie I did something bad."

Oh god. "Caroline what happened? What did you do?" More sniffing, "Care if you don't tell me right now I'm coming to your house-"

"I slept with Tyler!"

Oh…shit.

"What?"

Did she really just say what I think she said, "I slept with Tyler Lockwood. I'm freaking out here Lennie! I was so drunk and he was too and you know what we're like and-"

I interrupted her with the only thought in my head, "Stefan is going to _murder_ you Caroline."

"I KNOW! Oh god what have I done!"

Damon looked almost amused now, having figured out what happened, "Ah poor little bro." he mused, walking over and flopping down on the grass next to me. I put a finger to my lips to make him quiet; Caroline could not know…she couldn't keep a secret to save her life.

"He's going to be so angry and disappointed and I don't know what to do!" I could tell she was crying, I could hear it through the phone, "Lennie can you come over. I know it's late and all but I…I need you."

I sighed, knowing without a doubt that I'd be there in under and hour but really not wanting to leave Damon, "Yeah I'll be there as soon as I can." I tried not to notice the almost disappointed look on Damon's face, like he knew I was going to go…it felt like I was choosing her over him for some reason.

"Thank you."

"You've done it for me." I said quietly, remembering all the times she'd snuck over when I'd been upset, like the time I broke up with Matt two years ago, "Get the Ben and Jerry's ready."

Hanging up, I looked over at Damon, a guilty look on my face, "I'm so sorry, she needs me…"

He nodded, "I understand. I won't tell Stefan, don't worry."

"I didn't think you would." He picked up our things, passing mine back and I muttered a quiet thank you, pulling the abandoned pyjamas on over my almost dry underwear. When I next stole a glance at him he had his trousers on and was just about to start on the buttons of his shirt, "Do you have to?" I joked, only half joking though. I wish he never had to cover up and I could just stare at him all day…god what was happening to me?

He smirked, letting go of the shirt and leaving it undone so his torso was on almost full display, "I know, I'm a god." I rolled my eyes, moving closer until I was right in front of him, my hands sliding up to rest on his chest and I pressed my lips to his sternum before resting my chin there and looking up at him.

"Thank you…for tonight. It was perfect."

He shrugged a little, planting another little kiss on my forehead. It was like we just couldn't keep off one another, "No problem; we should do it more often."

The stress on the 'it' made me poke his stomach gently; rolling my eyes at his double meaning but he just gave a look of pure innocence. "Slut." He laughed, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and we began the walk back to the car through the woods. The sunlight was just beginning to filter through the thick canopy of leaves overhead so we could see where we were going just about. He didn't let go of me as we walked and I thought I never wanted him to.

Conversation was easy in the car; I was still a little in shock to tell the truth but at the same time drifting in the bliss of it all. If someone had told me six months ago that I would be having sex with Damon Salvatore in a lake in the middle of the forest at two o'clock in the morning I would have sent them to see a psychiatrist. But right now I couldn't think of anything better. "What do you think Stefan will do?" I asked him after a moment's silence.

He didn't reply for a second, then, "He'll be pissed off…maybe a little upset…to be perfectly honest with you I never thought he liked Caroline that much. He's always been completely in love with this other girl…says her name is Rachel but that's a fake name." I was surprised at that, not believing him, "My point is I don't think it'll break him."

I sighed, relaxing back into the seat, "He'll still be annoyed though. Will probably find some way or other to make it my fault…but it's always been Caroline and Tyler…no-one else really stood a chance with either of them."

"Why would he make it your fault? You had nothing to do with it."

I looked at him in surprise for a moment, "Damon have you been at all present for the past…no…for my whole _life! _Your brother _despises_ me with a passion to rival…something big. Why? Who knows…but it's true. He hates me more than Jeremy hates you or my dad hates your dad…get my drift?"

He laughed at that, "Well he's an idiot."

"I agree with that. I tell you, Bonnie will be so happy when they break up. She takes them together."

"I had no idea Saint Stefan was so unpopular." He mused, turning onto Caroline's road and pulling up a few houses down from hers.

"Only with me and Bonnie. Hey, thank you for the ride and for the night…"

"It was my pleasure. What are you doing tomorrow night?"

I thought for a moment, un-doing my seat belt and leaning towards him a little, "Hmm…I don't know…sneaking out of my window in the early hours?"

He widened his eyes in mock shock, "What a coincidence, that's exactly my suggestion."

I let out a quiet giggle but he cut it off with a full on kiss and very soon I realised my oxygen deprivation. "I look forward to it."

"Night girlfriend."

"Night boyfriend."

To say that Caroline was beside herself would be an understatement. There were tears and sobs and break downs and everything any man would run for the hills from. I guarantee this was many a man's worst nightmare. Snotty nose, red rimmed eyes, occasional punches to her _very nice friend_ who was trying to _help_. But that's fine…that's perfectly fine. What are friends for?

Eventually I got her calmed down, cleaned up and able to talk. Apparently they'd drunk way too much (the hangover didn't improve her mood nor her perspective on things) then she found herself in Tyler's room and…well…that's all there is to it really. The chemistry and sexual tension between the two of them was ridiculous at the best of times so it was always going to happen eventually.

I think the Ben and Jerry's helped…me and her. 7 o'clock found us both curled up in a mountain of duvets and pillows in her bed with mugs of now cold hot chocolate, a bag of marshmallows and '10 Things I Hate About You' on the TV. This was like the pre-break up kit almost. The door swung open at around twenty past to reveal Liz Forbes, dressed in her uniform, looking at us both with a questioning look on her face. "What happened?" She was clearly expecting either a break up or fight…we so hadn't been through this before…ahem…

"I have to break up with Stefan." Caroline blurted out. She and her mum were ridiculously close, they told each other everything…she wasn't exactly a liberal parent but she knew what her daughter was like and she accepted it.

"Why?" Hesitation…the sheriff turned to me, "Elena?"

Every time… "She cheated…Tyler."

A look of understanding swept over her face and she nodded, "Well that didn't take too long."  
"Mum?!"

"What! You know I didn't like him." It seemed Stefan was already in the past tense…I almost felt bad for the guy…but not quite. He was still a jerk…he was just a jerk that no idea what was going on. "Anyway girls, I must get to work. Elena do your parents know you're here? I'm assuming you crept in sometime last night." My silence said it all. I hadn't realised yet but it suddenly hit me that this was the perfect cover…now no-one would ever know that I was actually out with Damon all night. She let out a sigh, "You know after what happened they'll be panicking…call them, tell them where you are."

"Will do."

She left us to it and after a moment Caroline turned to look at me; I felt like I was being x-rayed, "Why were you already awake when I called you at four o'clock this morning?"

Oh god…when Caroline suspected something she'd never give up on it, "I couldn't sleep. Evil Granny was snoring next door like a herd of angry elephants."

"I could hear water."  
"Well I'd just had a shower, hence why my hair was wet. Why are you grilling me Care?"

She looked frustrated that I had an answer to everything, "Because you're hiding something and have been for weeks! Do you have a secret boyfriend or something that you're not telling me about?!" She threw it out as an extreme but the momentary shock on my face as she guessed exactly right made her freeze…damn her for noticing the split second before I corrected myself, "Oh my god is that it?"

"Caroline no…that's not it. I really just couldn't sleep." She didn't believe me so I went for the sob story…always worked, "I haven't been hiding anything Care, I'm just still getting over the whole attack thing…" Puppy eyes, sad face…and…

"Oh…Lennie I'm sorry…I didn't realise."

Hook, line and sinker.

I felt bad, but as I said, if Caroline found out then she'd tell Bonnie who'd tell Matt who'd tell Tyler and it'd eventually get round to Jeremy…you understand.

When it reached 9 o'clock I'd said goodbye to Caroline after many reassuring words and pep talks. I'd borrowed her bike to get home so it only took ten minutes before I was propping it up against the steps and knocking on the door. Well done me for not bringing my keys; I thought I'd be climbing back in through the tree but by now they'd all know I was missing.

Sure enough not a minute later the door flew open to reveal my _fuming_ mother, I winced, ready for the onslaught. She was going to go completely Mrs Weasley on me. "Where_ have. You. Been?" _'Beds empty, no note, car gone…you could have died, you could have been _seen_…' "We have been worried _sick_!"

"Mum it's not that bad, I'm sorry. Caroline called…something happened and she was really upset-" I began explaining but she interrupted as she always did.

"You could have told someone or left a note! Not sneak out of you window at god knows what hour! In your pyjamas no less!" She pointed for me to get inside and I did so, flinching as the door slammed behind me. Of course everyone was in the kitchen…_everyone_…all looking at me angrily. Evil Granny did _not_ look impressed.

"I don't know why you're making such a big deal of it…she lives like ten minutes away-"

"That is not the point! You of all people should know it's dangerous to be walking around at night-time; you got attacked only a month ago!"

"Yes you don't need to remind me." I retorted, grabbing an apple off the central island.

"I'm sorry…she got attacked?" Oh lord…of course they didn't know. The bruises had all faded and we hadn't seemed any of them since before it happened…this was just great.

I let out an annoyed sigh, "Yes, whatever…get over it, it's not a big deal. I'm going upstairs."

"Oh no you don't young lady; we are going to talk about this." Dad's voice stopped me halfway to the door but, suddenly feeling exhausted and yesterday's headache returning, I whirled around to face him.

"No we're not. If it was Jeremy you wouldn't care, but oh yes…he's two years older and a boy. I snuck out, okay…but to help a friend…it wasn't like I was sneaking out to meet some guy." Well… that was the absolute reason, but they need not know that, "I've done it before; you know that so you have no reason to make a big deal of it now." I didn't give them a chance to object, spinning back around and storming out of the room and upstairs. Of course then I remembered I'd locked my doors from the inside which was just fantastic. Lucky for me Jeremy's room was right next to mine so, not using the full extent of my brain, I went into his room, out his window, and edged along the roof until I got to my own, finally dropping down into my room. Thank god. I dropped down into my bed and within seconds I was fast asleep, dreaming sweet dreams of waterfalls, lily pads and Damon Salvatore.


	8. Chapter 8

As expected, Stefan didn't take his break up with Caroline too well…nor did she for that matter. When I went into my room to find her sitting crying on my window-seat I knew it hadn't gone well. Sure she was generally an emotional person and when things got too much she did tend to cry but I hadn't expected her to be so upset. She stayed over with more Ben & Jerry's and crappier TV. I didn't tell my parents of her arrival…to say the least since my return home all of four days ago; things had been just a little tense around the house. They were mad at me and I was mad at them…Jeremy was just mad at everyone.

Apparently Caroline had called Stefan over to hers to get it over with. He'd left an hour later with the furious idea that I'd set her up to it…absolutely typical. So now I had to smooth that over. Why did he hate me so much? I didn't really care but it was annoying when he was…had been…going out with my best friend.

The next night I'd risked sneaking out once more to meet Damon though this time went completely smoothly. By the time my parents were coming into my room to wake me up I was there and they were none the wiser. We'd gone to the waterfall again, silently establishing it as 'our place'.

Everything seemed to be going well…to some extent at least, until the following Friday. We'd been invited to a dinner for…guess who…the founding families. This was getting ridiculous! One of the things I was most looking forward to about getting out of this town was no more founding events…sure it was nice to occasionally dress up and go socialise, but when it was happening at least once a month, sometimes even every week…it gets old. They'd rented out the whole of the local 5* restaurant, _Chez Emile._ It was very 'upper class' as you may have guessed. While it wasn't floor length dresses territory, it sure was smart. I'd chosen a red dress as a change. It cut off about a few inches above my knees and was strapless, tight but not bodycon, semi-formal but not slutty…perfect. Picking out outfits for these things was always hell. I tied my hair up into a high, tight ponytail…not so much a Croydon facelift but out of the way, and applied the usual subtle makeup; according to Caroline I had a dark browns, bronze and gold palette…whatever that meant. My shoes were the usual black suede heels, 5-inches so I would only be a little shorter than Damon.

No-one talked on the car ride there, only a few quiet words between my parents. Once we reached the restaurant, among the last to arrive, we quickly filtered through the small crowd to find our friends or the people we usually talk to. Since neither Caroline nor Bonnie were founding family members they weren't allowed to attend, thank god for Tyler was all I could say. But he wasn't here yet…which may have been a good thing since I could see Stefan over there. Jeremy popped up next to me, handing me a flute of champagne and looking around the crowd, "You look nice." He told me and I smiled.

"You look nice too."

A moment of silence passed before he sighed and spoke, "Can things stop being awkward now. It's been a month."

"Finally, thank you." He grinned and pulled me into a quick hug and I felt relief flood through me. Who knew that we could argue for so long? It was then that I spotted Damon standing on the other side talking to Carol Lockwood, but he was watching me over her shoulder as she talked obviously animatedly about something or other. I shot him a quick smile before looking away, not wanting to get caught in a staring match here of all places. He looked amazing though…he should wear suits all the time…well…suits or nothing- Elena!

By some cruel twist of fate I found my seat between Stefan Salvatore and Logan Fell, opposite Damon Salvatore…this was going to be absolutely awful. And then there was Mason Lockwood and Meredith Fell either side of Damon…Mason as in Tyler's older cousin who had a horrible habit of flirting incessantly. I was not looking forward to this to say the least.

The first half of the meal was spent ignoring Stefan's many jibes about how I split him and Caroline up, together with Mason's dodgy looks and innuendos drowning everything he said to me. I couldn't talk to Damon because I knew I'd let something slip and that couldn't be done. So instead I focused on Meredith and Logan. I didn't dislike many people…but Logan was one of the few…he was a first grade a-hole. Meredith was my only hope. We'd talked before, sure we weren't good friends or anything but we got on. She was a nurse at the hospital and good friends with Jenna.

It was just after the main course had been taken away that Stefan threw another jibe my way and, already wound up pretty tight, it wasn't even a conscious decision to whip my head round to him and retort in a quiet but thoroughly angry voice, "For fucks sake Stefan I didn't split you and Caroline up! I wasn't there; I didn't trick her into sleeping with Tyler so she'd break up with you. I would never do that to her, she'd my best friend."

"Well you surely have her fooled-"  
"I swear to god…" Deep breaths…keep calm, "What is your problem? What have I _ever_ done to you to make you hate me so much? And don't say it's because of my second name because that's bullshit and you know it." I was semi-aware that Damon was listening from across the table but I couldn't deal with all the comments anymore.

"I don't like you because you're a backstabbing, lying bitch-"

"Stefan" Damon's voice cut in sharply, shooting his brother a murderous glare but I didn't take note, staring at the younger Salvatore in complete shock.

"I'm sorry, what? How?"

"You stab your friends in the back, as well as your family."

I was complete lost for words, "Give me an example." I demanded, he had absolutely no grounds for saying such things.

He smirked, motioning for me to come closer and hesitantly I did so, tensing as he moved in too so his lips were right beside me ear, his warm breath against the shell of my ear, he whispered so no-one else could hear, "Because I know you're the _slut_ that's fucking my brother." My eyes shot wide at his words and I opened my mouth to object but he cut in, "Don't even try to deny it."

I think it was the shock and the panic that was overtaking me that pushed me away from him, out of my chair. Blindly walking I found myself in the bustling and steamy kitchen before out another door and a wall of cold air hit me as I entered the back alley. Fuck…fuck he knew. Stefan knew! He hated me enough to tell everyone…oh god he was probably doing it right now. I couldn't even face my parents…what would they think? They'd hate me…Jeremy would never talk to me again. Shit this was so screwed up.

I was leaning against the rough brick wall when the door swung open again and Damon ran out, spotting me a little way up and quickly ran over, "Are you okay? What did he say to you?" He rushed out, his hands cradling my face.

"He knows. Stefan knows…he'll tell everyone Damon. How does he know? Did you tell him?" The panic in my head blurred my thoughts so I hardly knew what I was saying.

"What? No of course I didn't!" He seemed shocked that I'd even suggest it, letting go of my face, "Calm down Lena, he won't say anything to anyone; I'll make sure of it."

I let out a shaky breath, shaking my head a little, "He probably already has! And the fact that I storm off then you follow. They'll all figure it out."

He was quiet for a moment, "Well I couldn't just leave you…I had to make sure you were okay." He justified, "And they'll find out eventually."

I nodded, guilt hitting me, "I know, I'm sorry…thank you. I just don't want them to find out yet…or like this. And I don't want _everyone_ to find out at the same time."

Before I could carry on though, the door flew open for a third time and I cursed quietly as my brother emerged. His eyes found Damon first, then me, fists clenched at his sides as he approached…so everyone knew. "What's going on Elena? And what the fuck are you doing here with her?"

I answered for both of us, "Stefan just said something that got to me. You know what he's like. Damon just came to check that I was okay."

His eyes were cold as he tried to make sense of it, "Well that's not his fucking place." His gaze travelled to Damon, "You stay the hell away from my sister, I swear to god I'll kill you if you lay a finger on her." I cut in before Damon could come in with some line along the line of 'more than a finger' and make the whole situation even worse. I was beginning to think that maybe Stefan hadn't said anything yet.

I stepped between them and pushed my brother back a little, "Jeremy he was just being nice. No need to go all macho big brother-"

"It's not. His. Place." He ground out and I just rolled my eyes.

"Whose place is it then? He was just being _nice_." God he was so infuriating sometimes, "Let's go back inside Jer, before you launch into the whole loyalty speech again."

He stared daggers at Damon for a moment more before grabbing my arm and pulling me back with him. As we reached the door I glanced back and met Damon's eyes, all the words needed said silently.

It turned out Stefan hadn't announced our disloyalty to the whole table, not told anyone else. I assumed he was saving up for a perfect opportunity. By the time we returned to the table dessert was finished and everyone was talking around the table. I was thankful to see that Stefan had moved to sit at the other end to talk to someone else, his chair now occupied by Jenna…thank god. Apparently no-one had noticed our absence at all. All I wanted was to go home though, feeling tired and drained. When we finally did arrive home, I barely managed to take my dress off before disappearing under the covers and falling asleep.

Nothing really happened for the next week or so. I stayed at home mostly, occasionally going out to visit Caroline or Bonnie or Damon under a different name. Things were tense now that someone else knew…I didn't really know how to react to the fact that he could 'let it slip' at any moment. And what would we do then?

It was a while after that disaster of a dinner that my parents called Jeremy and me into the living room one evening, both with grave faces. The worry came almost immediately and I could feel that they were about to give us some bad news. "What's going on?" Jeremy questioned as we sat down on the sofa opposite them.

"We have something to tell you…something that you, Jeremy, in particular, will not take too well I don't think." Our mum began, not helping the confusion at all. She glanced up at Dad who continued.

"We're going to have some guests for dinner tomorrow night." How bad could that be?

"Oh…okay…who?" my brother said, visibly relaxing. For a moment I thought they were going to tell us something truly bad…like a death or something.

They hesitated before answering, sharing another look. I think I knew what they were going to say before they actually verbalised it but it didn't lessen the shock one bit.

The Salvatore's were coming for dinner.

**Dun, dun duuuunnnnn **


	9. Chapter 9

Tension…awkwardness…discomfort…nervousness …anxiety…an overwhelming sense of foreboding?

These were all the things I felt as I paced around my room, twisting my hands around each other restlessly. How was this a good idea? What good cold possibly come out of it? They weren't going to fix anything or solve anything…all that could possibly happen was a few tense conversations before a massive explosion of fury and anger and…

This was not going to go well.

Mum insisted that we were to dress up, making the whole situation feel even more uncomfortable and fake. I'd pulled on some black tights, a black bodycon skirt and a sheer cream shirt tucked in with a black collar, cuffs and button hem, the lacy white bra on underneath just about visible. I had a bad feeling about the whole evening. Plopping down on my window seat I absentmindedly began plaiting my hair into a fishtail plait, tying it and leaving it that way hanging over my shoulder. Lost in my own little world I jumped at the ominous sound of the doorbell…how had I not heard their car pull up? I stood up quickly, slipping my feet into my black heels and walking slowly to the landing. The sound of my parents opening the door and greeting our guests drifted up the stairwell before the door beside me flew open to reveal a very unenthusiastic brother of mine. "Kill me."

"Please." If only. "C'mon." He went before me, down the stairs and I followed a little slower. Oh the tension, you could cut it with a knife. Three handshakes later (Stefan's entirely too tight, clearly trying to crush my hand) and I was standing in front of Damon who, as per usual, looked like a God. "Hey."

"Hey." He muttered, taking my hand and squeezing it gently, making it look like a handshake, I smiled and reluctantly pulled it back, "You look gorgeous." Luckily the others had moved away a bit so they couldn't hear our words, though if they'd looked I was sure they'd be able to see the faint blush across my cheeks.

"Don't look too bad yourself." I replied quietly, "Come on," You may have established by now that I was nervous. I had a bad feeling about the night…like something bad was going to happen. The possibilities were truly endless. World War Three begins between the two families? Likely…Damon and I get found out? Seemingly unavoidable…

The meal itself went as well as it ever was going to, with light, meaningless talk to politics or medicine or business. For some reason those always seemed to be the 'safe' options in a conversation between adults. Well…it was going well that was, until Jeremy and Damon managed to start one of those civilised fights from either end of the table, insulting each other through the disguise of a conversation. We all saw straight through it-

"That's enough!" Elizabeth Salvatore suddenly interrupted; standing up…it seemed she was the first adult to have had enough of this bullshit. "I have had it with all this fighting," My words exactly, but still everyone seemed shocked at her actions, "It's been going on for over a decade and we need to grow up and sort it out."

Elizabeth Salvatore was certainly not the type to make such an objection. She was a quiet woman…beautiful and kind though serious and inadvertently terrifying and intimidating. She had an incredible influence because of this…not that she used it in a negative way, it was always positive…but still she held a large portion of power.

There was a momentary silence after this speech before Grayson spoke thoughtfully and almost nervously, "Well that would involve facing the cause of our argument."

Was this the night we 'kids' were finally going to find out the reason for us having to hate one another? It seemed so. "Maybe that's a good thing," Miranda began and the other three looked at her, she let out a sigh, "I can't help but agree with Elizabeth, it's been going on long enough. And I think that its time the children knew…" The look she exchanged with my dad confused me, like they didn't agree. But how could it really affect us? As far as I was aware we were all kids when this all happened…it was nothing to do with us.

All being 18 or older it seemed we all resented being called 'children' but said nothing about it. I looked at Jeremy who was watching our parents with a confused frown on his face…what was the reason? "Very well…perhaps we should move to the living room?" Giuseppe suggested and mum nodded, starting to gather the plates. I helped her load them into the dishwasher as everyone else moved into the other room. Just after we finished and followed them in she stopped me and pulled me into a tight hug. Surprised, I hugged her back and laughed a little.

"Hey mum…you okay?"

She nodded and pressed a kiss to the side of my head, a strange look in her eyes that I couldn't quite place, "I love you Elena…remember that."

Right…what? Thanks? This so didn't help the mounting bad feeling in my gut. She was gone before I could question her. Taking a minute to prepare myself, I poured myself another glass of wine before making my way into the other room. The sides were quite clear…not separated by a huge distance but the Salvatore's were gathered around one sofa and us the opposite. I leant against the arm of 'our sofa', taking a sip of my wine and taking the opportunity to glance over at Damon who was watching me with a small smirk on his face. I blushed a little and looked away; so not the place.

It was a while later that everyone had sufficiently prepared themselves and Giuseppe began, "Well we may as well start with the beginning of this all. I'll begin." For a moment my mind travelled back to nursery and story time. He addressed Jeremy, Stefan, Damon and I as we were the only ones not to know, "As you know, about fourteen years ago your parents and us were very good friends, but that changed." Yes this sounded like the beginning of an absolutely thrilling story… "I'm just warning you that the reasons for that do involve you…well…mainly Elena." I froze, staring at him in confusion as everyone's eyes travelled to me. How the hell was this my fault?!

My mum cut in then, "Elena…this _will_ affect you…knowing what we're about to tell you. And I know you're going to be mad and upset but please just remember that we love you and-"  
"Just tell me." I interrupted, her speech not helping to quell the nerves.

She sighed and looked at my dad, then began, "Well, when you were younger…four years old…you were in an accident…a car crash. Your father was driving; a drunk driver ran a red light and collided with your side of the car." My eyes widened a little at that, not expecting that. But how did I not know about that? Why hadn't I been told that? "You were in hospital…and you'd lost a lot of blood so they had to give you a transfusion but…" she broke off for a moment, "Your blood type's AB positive…it's rare, only one in 29 people."

I frowned, not understanding, "So?"

There was a long silence where my parents just looked at each other, like there was some big news to break but neither of them wanted to be the ones to deliver it. I held my breath, terrified of what it could possibly be. I watched as my dad stepped forward, "Lena I'm blood type O positive…and so is your mother." The frown deepened and I opened my mouth to ask how that was possible but then he delivered the news…the soul-destroying news, "You're adopted Elena."

Silence.

I didn't quite know what to say…thinking for a moment that this was just them playing a cruel joke. I couldn't be adopted…I was a Gilbert…I'd always been a Gilbert. I couldn't be anything else. The look on their faces proved to me that it wasn't a joke but Jeremy recovered first. "What do you mean she's adopted?" he said suddenly. He was far from being an idiot but I guess he just couldn't piece it together either.

"We adopted you when you were a baby." Dad told me calmly, pain in his eyes. Everyone's eyes were on me, sympathetic looks all around. I didn't say anything, not knowing what to do…if I wasn't a Gilbert then what was I? _Who_ was I? I'd spent my whole life believing that these two people standing in front of me where my parents, that that boy sitting over there was my older brother…but if that wasn't the truth…who were my parents? Did I have a brother…?

I didn't cry…I couldn't do that…I almost wanted to but I couldn't. No, instead I just silently stood up, trying to bring the strands together in my head by starting towards the door then spinning back around and looking at them, mouth open to speak but I didn't know what to say. What _was_ I meant to say?

"Who am I then?" It seemed to be all my questions in one.

The pain evident in their eyes didn't even function with me. For eighteen years they'd called themselves my parents and they'd been lying…lying to me. I wasn't going to say my whole life was a lie because it wasn't…just the basic, core facts that I knew weren't true anymore. For one terrifying moment I thought they were going to announce that I was really a Salvatore which would literally have killed me.

"You're Elena Gilbert…this doesn't change that-"  
I couldn't take that, closing my eyes for a moment, "Yes it does, who am I really…who are my parents? Where are they? Why am I only finding out about this now after eighteen years? Don't you dare lie to me anymore." I ground out, walls shooting up between us.

I'd half forgotten that it wasn't just my family in the room and I took the moments silence to take note that Damon was standing too, a conflicted expression on his face like he wanted to come over to me but couldn't. Mum (could I still call her that) started talking before I could look at him properly, "I was pregnant…two years after we'd had Jeremy. But there were complications at the hospital and we lost her…" They gave me a moment to take that in before carrying on, "There was a couple who visited us in the hospital, they'd just had a baby the day before…a little girl. They were young…really young, she was only 17 and they had no money, no nothing." I could tell where this was going already but I didn't want to believe it, my heart beating a little too fast.

Grayson continued, "It wasn't an official adoption…but it was their choice…they knew you'd be better with us." I drew in a shaky breath, looking away and silently cursing myself for the liquid gathering in my eyes, I couldn't cry.

Another deep breath and still refusing to look at them, "Their names…what are their names?"

"Hugh and Isobel…Flemming."

Elena Flemming. It sounded strange…not exactly wrong but strange. I took another deep breath and quickly brushed my fingers against my eye to hide the trickle of escaping liquid, "Where are they now?" They both looked up at me in surprise, like they hadn't expected such a question. When they realised what I meant, a disturbing expression of pain sank onto both their faces, "I want to meet them. Where are they?" I demanded more firmly but my voice was weak anyway.

"Elena-"  
"Tell me!" I shouted, ignoring the plea from the woman I thought to be my mother.

She took a minute, "Lena after they gave you to us…they were in a crash off Wickery Bridge…" My breath hitched in my throat at her words and I felt the horror spread over my face as she broke the god awful news to me, "They died Elena."

I couldn't hold it together anymore, spinning around to face the wall, my hand clamped over my mouth to prevent the sobs from sounding. It couldn't be true…how could this be true? I have no idea how much time passed before I heard Miranda say my name and I snapped out of it, wiping my eyes, sure that I looked a complete mess with my running makeup, turning back to face them, a new coldness clamping down over my face, a blankness in my eyes that had never been there before. My voice was solid and cold; I wanted answers before I broke completely, "What then?" They looked shocked at the change in my demeanour, "You to solve your fucking problem, _your_ family fights…how was I to blame? How did I cause this momentous rift?"

Bitterness…that's what my words were doused in. They took seemingly forever to gather themselves and answer me, "We didn't tell anyone." Grayson said, "It hadn't been official and although they'd left a letter as proof, their deaths were being investigated and we couldn't tell anyone. So we raised you as our own, because that's what you were…"

I scoffed and shook my head, anger burning in my veins. It was then that Giuseppe stepped forward, to the front of their two groups, closest to me. I'd never found him more comforting than my own parents…the cold and elusive Giuseppe Salvatore, always the intimidating higher figure, "Elena we only found out when you were four when you needed the blood transfusion. There was a night when your parents-"

"-They're not my parents."

I heard a gasp from behind him but didn't acknowledge it, too angry at them to realise how harsh a thing it was to say, no matter how true, "Okay, well Miranda and Grayson told us the truth. We weren't so much angry about the nature of the adoption, more the secrecy. Miscarriage was a sensitive topic…we lost a baby ourselves not long before Miranda," Out of the corner of my eye I saw both Damon and Stefan's heads snap around to their own mother but she didn't look, "This isn't your fault…this feud…you're not responsible."

I could feel the pressure and heat building up behind my eyes again but I bit my lip and refused to let it show. I nodded, not believing it but nodding because there wasn't much else I could do. I dug my fingers into my palm to try and focus my mind on something, _anything_, other than the emotional pain I was feeling. It felt entirely like my world was crashing down on me, my perspective on the bigger picture diminishing with every second. I needed air…I needed to get out of here. I could hear them talking but the words didn't function in my head. Somewhere in the mess that was my brain I heard Grayson shouting at Giuseppe about something and him replying that he was my godfather…that was the last straw.

I heard my name shouted as I ran blindly up the stairs and into my room, slamming the door behind me and collapsing back against it. A screaming mantra in my head telling me to calm down but all I could say was the words 'oh my god' over and over again. When my vision changed from bright and surreal madness my eyes clamped down on the open gym bag on the armchair in the corner, covered in clothes. I hardly thought as I crossed the room to it, opening it and throwing in the first outfits that I could lay my hands on…perhaps enough for a few days. My phone, diary, iPod, teddy, passport, laptop…the first things I laid my eyes on. It couldn't have been any more than ten minutes that I was descending the stairs, bag in hand. They were all sitting down again, sombre expressions on their faces and shock as they realised I'd re-emerged and was standing by the door with the full intention of leaving. I couldn't be here anymore.

I walked straight over to them, focused only on the letter in Grayson's hand, taking it without a word and clutching it tightly, I made my way back to the door. I only paused at the sound of Jeremy calling my name, turning back but my eyes only found one pair that mattered…the only ones I needed.

"Are you coming?" I asked quietly, praying to god that he didn't let me down…he'd never let me down before.

He didn't say a word, just stood up and walked over, never breaking eye contact. Reaching up to pick up his coat, I turned and opened the door, not sparing a glance back as we left, the finalising click of the door barely setting in.

Maybe it was a dream. Maybe I'd wake up in the morning in my bed with my heart beating slightly out of time and a faint sheen of sweat on my skin like I did every time I'd had a nightmare. I'd go downstairs into the kitchen and find my mum cooking blueberry pancakes, dad sitting at the table reading the newspaper and Jeremy sitting at the island texting on his phone. Maybe my overactive imagination had outdone himself.

Maybe it would all be okay.

**So there was the big chapter…I hope you liked it. I'm not sure how good it was but please review and tell me what you think. **


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